Brooklyn Nets C Brook Lopez’s career might be over if surgery doesn’t go right

The Brooklyn Nets lost center Brook Lopez in late 2013 to a fractured foot that has ended his season. But now there is fear that his career might be over if the surgery on his right foot doesn’t go well. The cause for concern is stemming from the fact that the surgery Lopez is getting is designed to strength his foot against future injury, but there’s as much risk as there is reward according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. 

All indications are that Lopez is expected to recover from the surgery itself but the procedure to make his foot more resistant doesn’t go well, Lopez’s career could be forever altered in a negative way. Even if it doesn’t end his career in the traditional way, it could cause him to decline dramatically in terms of his talent and his potential.

Windhorst implies that it’s not this specific injury or anything dangerous about the surgery itself that is jeopardizing Lopez’s career, rather it’s the fact that this is the third time he’s had surgery on the foot. Windhorst compares Lopez’s situation to that of Yao Ming who didn’t have his career ended by one injury, but a slew of them limited his potential and turned him into nothing more than an average player.

The hope is that medical science now is more advanced than it was in the early 2000s, but there is still an element of fear and doubt when it comes to Brook Lopez’s future and his potential with the Nets.