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Mashburn To Miss 2004-05 Season
New Orleans – The New Orleans Hornets announced that forward Jamal Mashburn will sit out the 2004-05 season on the Injured List due to a patella femoral irritation of his right knee.
We have monitored Jamal’s status and have been in close contact with him throughout the summer, and his knee has simply not improved,” said Hornets General Manager Allan Bristow. “He still has significant swelling caused by bone rubbing on bone. Unfortunately, we have mutually come to the decision that he will sit out the 2004-05 season, but we remain optimistic about him resuming his career at some point in the future.”
Mashburn missed the final 19 games of last season and all of the playoffs with the same injury. He began the 2003-04 campaign on the Injured List following arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles in his right knee and missed the first 44 games of the season. He averaged 20.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 19 games for the Hornets in 2003-04.
“I know that Jamal is frustrated as both a competitor and a professional that he will not able to contribute to the team this season,” said Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott. “I’m disappointed that I won’t get to coach him and utilize his talents, but I know his work ethic and determination will lead him to do everything he can to return to the court.”
The Hornets are 58-53 (.523) all-time without Mashburn in the lineup since he joined the team prior to the 2000-01 season. Mashburn played in 76 of 82 games in 2000-01, missing five games due to a bone bruise in his left knee and one game with a bruised sternum. In 2001-02, Mashburn missed 42 games with a lower abdominal strain during the regular season and missed all but one game of the playoffs due to positional vertigo.
Mashburn played in all 82 games for the Hornets in 2002-03 (the first time in his career that he had done so) and averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists to earn All-NBA Third Team honors and his first All-Star nomination. He missed two games in the playoffs due to a chipped bone fracture and dislocation of his right middle finger.
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