| Hamilton injured his foot Saturday. (Getty Images) |
Update 9:31 p.m.: Bulls.com reports that Hamilton tore his plantar fascia, but may only end up missing "a week or two."
It turns out Richard Hamilton tore his plantar fascia in his left foot late in the third quarter of the Bulls Saturday night win over the 76ers, according to Bulls sources.
But that’s sort of the good news.
Plantar fasciitis, the painful inflammation on the bottom of the foot, can last months. At times, treatment will include a tear so the healing can begin more quickly. Thus, this is not generally considered as serious an injury and Hamilton could play again in a week or two.
via Hamilton has tear, but may not be out long | Blogs.Bulls.com.
Bellinelli will take over in Hamilton's absence but it's a lot better than it could have been. Hamilton is widely considered to be trade bait at the trade deadline as it's expected the Bulls will seek to move under the luxury tax threshold with Hamilton's expiring contract.
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Rip Hamilton suffered a foot injury in the third quarter of the Bulls' win over Philadelphia. He left the game but eventually returned to finish the win, hitting some late free throws. X-rays were negative, and Hamilton said he'd have an MRI on the foot:
Hamilton suffered the injury when he jumped to throw a pass to Carlos Boozer with 3:15 left in the third quarter. "[It happened] when I jumped up," Hamilton said. As soon as I came off my feet, thats when I really felt something on the bottom of my foot. I felt something pop.
It was a lot scarier than I thought," said Hamilton, who scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. "But we'll see. [Sunday] I'm supposed to get an MRI on it. But the good thing about it I was able to put a little bit of weight on it and was able to go back into the game."
"I felt something pop." That's a phrase you never want to hear regarding an injury. Hamilton is vital for a Bulls offense that isn't great to begin with. If he misses time, Marco Bellinelli, who has not had a good start to the season, will fill in.
You have to wonder about putting Hamilton back into the game after he felt something pop and had to be carried off. I'm sure the training staff was correct in its assessment that Hamilton could return, but it seems odd to take the risk.
This is like the opposite of the Spurs. San Antonio gives healthy guys the night off; the Bulls play guys through injury.