http://www.startribune.com/511/story/505505.html DALLAS - Sam Mitchell, the former Timberwolves forward now coaching the Toronto Raptors, is living, breathing evidence on both sides of the aisle regarding microfracture knee surgery, the procedure Wolves guard Rashad McCants underwent last week. Mitchell had the same surgery on his right knee after the 1999 lockout season and was back in uniform by the time the Wolves opened the next season in Japan with a pair of early November games against Sacramento. He wound up playing through the 2001-02 season, becoming the Wolves' all-time leader in games played. That's the good news, along with the fact that Mitchell had the surgery when he was 35 years old, when his recuperative powers might have been less than the 21-year-old McCants. The bad news? "Dr. [David] Fischer called me a 'walking miracle,' " Mitchell said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "Because I played again. Most guys don't play again after having that surgery." Fischer performed the procedure on McCants on Friday. The list of players who had microfracture knee surgery and either never returned or never regained their old form is considerable: Allan Houston, Penny Hardaway, Terrell Brandon, Jamal Mashburn, Alvin Williams. Others required rehabilitation periods longer than Mitchell's four months; Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Denver's Kenyon Martin were sidelined or limited through the 2005-06 season after having the procedure. Philadelphia's Chris Webber played in eight months but said he didn't feel whole for two years. "The thing that's scary, with young guys like McCants and Stoudemire, is that this normally is an injury that comes later," Mitchell said. "I had mine when I was [35] years old from wear-and-tear since I was in high school. Not when I was 23, 24 years old." Mitchell said he never fretted that the surgery -- in which small holes are drilled into the bone to stimulate blood and cell flow, as a way to regenerate cartilage-like protection within the knee -- might jeopardize his career. Why not? "The doctors tricked me," he said, laughing. "They didn't tell me it was microfracture surgery. Dr. Fischer didn't know that's what I needed till I was on the table. I was out." Mitchell said some additional information was withheld, too, that helped him out. "They didn't tell me that most people didn't come back from it," he said. "They did me a favor, because I'm not sure I would have worked as hard." --

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