Redd's career in doubt

One anterior cruciate ligament tear can be devastating to a professional basketball player.

But two?

Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd is facing career-threatening ACL and medial collateral ligament tears in his left knee after going down in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

It's the same injury he suffered - to the same knee - almost one year earlier in a home game against the Sacramento Kings.

"You don't know why," he said before the Bucks played the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. "I don't question why. My faith is in the Lord and I'm going to stay strong as best I can.

"I've gotten an incredible response from my teammates and the organization . . . comforted me and encouraged me and loved on me. But it's been a hard, hard day today. But I'll get through it."

Redd had labored through 18 games this season while trying to come back from last year's injury and a strained left patella tendon he suffered in the home opener on Oct. 31.

The patella injury sidelined him for 16 games, but he was playing in his 13th consecutive game Sunday.

Redd said he was trying to post up against Lakers star Kobe Bryant when the injury occurred.

"I heard a pop," Redd said. "I've been slashing and I've been driving and nothing (bad) has happened to that point. And then on a move that wasn't even dynamic, it happens.

"I cried. Just because you work so hard to get back to where I was and for it to happen again, it just hurts. I feel bad for the team and the organization and my fans who supported me."

Redd said he intends to keep playing despite suffering two serious injuries in less than 12 months.

"Something in my heart won't let me give up," he said.

Redd spoke with his teammates at the arena before taking a flight back to Milwaukee on Monday night.

"We as an organization feel badly for Michael," Bucks general manager John Hammond said in a phone interview from North Carolina, where he was scouting college basketball talent. "But we will continue to support him through this process as we have always done."

No details of plans for surgery were immediately available.

Redd's surgery for the previous ACL and MCL tears was performed on March 3 last year by Chicago Bulls team doctor Brian Cole.

Redd knows all too well the amount of work it will take for him to mount a comeback. He trained in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, throughout the summer while trying to strengthen his knee and get ready for the season.

Now he must do it all over again while entering the final year of the six-year, $91 million contract he signed with the Bucks in the summer of 2005, the richest deal in franchise history.

Redd has a player option worth $18 million for the 2010-'11 season, and it's far more than he could command on the free-agent market.

The 6-foot-6 shooting guard experienced wild swings this season, putting up solid numbers in certain games and failing to be a factor in others.

For example, he had just six points on 3-of-12 shooting in the Bucks' 25-point loss to Orlando in late December. But he bounced back with 27 points to help lead the Bucks to a 103-97 overtime victory against Oklahoma City on Jan. 2.

He scored nine points on 2-of-9 shooting against New Jersey a few days later but broke through with 24 points and played a key role as the Bucks held off the Chicago Bulls, 96-93, at the Bradley Center on Friday night.

Redd's numbers this season were far off his career averages, and he was shooting 35.2% from the field, a full 10 points off his career mark entering the season. He averaged 11.9 points and 3.0 rebounds while playing 27.3 minutes per game.

The Bucks fell out of the Eastern Conference playoff race when Redd and center Andrew Bogut suffered season-ending injuries a year ago.

Redd missed the final 35 games after being injured on Jan. 24 against the Kings. This season he will miss the final 48 games.

But Milwaukee has some options in Carlos Delfino, who has started 27 games at small forward and shooting guard, and veteran Charlie Bell, who has made 16 starts. Rookie Jodie Meeks also could gain playing time, and Luke Ridnour has played in tandem with point guard Brandon Jennings.

Bell filled the starting role against the Suns.

Hammond said the Bucks would not make an immediate move to replace Redd's roster spot.

Milwaukee is down to 13 players, two below the roster limit. Included among the 13 is forward Joe Alexander, who has yet to play this season due to a right hamstring injury but has been practicing in the past week.

"We've played almost half the season without Michael to this point," Hammond said, "and we didn't feel a knee-jerk reaction was necessary at this time."