ESPN: Eric Gordon Considering Microfracture Surgery; Yahoo!: No, he isn't.

Chris Broussard of ESPN dropped a bombshell today, saying that Eric Gordon has been presented with microfracture surgery as an option to treat his ailing knee. The money quote:

No firm decisions have been made as New Orleans Hornets guard Eric Gordon continues to seek additional opinions on his troublesome right knee, but microfracture surgery has been presented as one of a number of potential remedies, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Gordon is scheduled to consult with a knee specialist this weekend as the Hornets try to pinpoint a definitive course of action -- whether that's a surgical procedure or a revamped rehabilitation program -- after their highest-paid player was shelved indefinitely this week.

Of course, this sounds extremely bad. Microfracture surgery is widely considered to be one of the most difficult procedures to recover from. The above block quote actually contains all the new information that came from the article, the rest consisting mostly of a rehash Gordon's contract negotiations and choice quotes from yesterday's press conference. The only other interesting tidbit is this:

The idea of microfracture surgery was broached with Gordon last season, sources told ESPN.com, but Gordon was resistant to such serious surgery heading into his free-agent summer. Gordon, 23, did end up having arthroscopic surgery -- a lesser procedure -- in February.

This is both a reason to be hopeful and a reason to tear your hair out. The reason to be hopeful: it's possible that microfracture surgery was presented as an option last year, and the subject of microfracture hasn't been broached since. The reason to tear your hair out: if the Hornets organization knew that microfracture surgery was an option, why in the world did Dell Demps match the Phoenix offer?

UPDATE: According to the perpetually well-informed Marc Spears of Yahoo!, surgery is not in Gordon's immediate future. -Will

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Hornets guard Eric Gordon tells Yahoo! Sports that a doctor in Chicago told him today he can return from his knee injury in 4-to-6 weeks.</p>&mdash; Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/264472810733330432" data-datetime="2012-11-02T21:03:26+00:00">November 2, 2012</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Eric Gordon also told Yahoo! Sports he needs no further surgery and will to rehab and strengthening prior to return from knee injury.</p>&mdash; Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/264473103994851328" data-datetime="2012-11-02T21:04:36+00:00">November 2, 2012</a></blockquote>

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