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Otto Porter injury: A non-update timeline

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November 13, 2013 at 2:16 p.m. EST
(Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Remember when the Wizards took Georgetown standout Otto Porter with the third overall pick in the 2013 draft? Remember those 19 glorious, injury-free days that followed? So much hope. So much promise.

Then the That’s-So-Wizards curse fell upon him, and seven games into the season he still hasn’t played a second of professional basketball.

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Here’s what we know: Porter strained his right hamstring July 17. Then he strained his right hip flexor in mid-September and couldn’t participate in training camp. He’s been listed as “day-to-day” for his entire Wizards career. That’s pretty much it.

When will he play? Nobody knows. Will he even be good when he plays? Nobody knows. Will he EVER play? Nobody knows. Is he progressing? What is progress, even? What is life?

The following timeline will shed light on none of those questions. Rather, it will illustrate precisely how little we know and how long we haven’t known it.

July 17
“I really don’t know yet, we’ll see how I feel in the morning.” — Porter, asked if he’d play the day after leaving early against the Denver Nuggets with a tight right hamstring.

Sept. 25
“It’s tough to say right now because of the limitations that he had in summer league, the strain with his hamstring, having a full understanding mentally as well as physically, what he can handle and what he can’t…” — Coach Randy Wittman on his expectations for Porter.

Sept. 28

Oct. 4

Oct. 18
“I don’t have any idea. I think he’s getting another look when we get back from the doctor so hopefully we’ll have an update Monday.” — Wittman, asked for an update.

Oct. 21

Oct. 29
“I don’t know who he is and have not had a chance to coach him yet.” — Wittman, asked what he knows about Porter.

Nov. 10

As for the update on Porter’s MRI results, well, there is none.

And then there was this Junkies segment Tuesday with John Thompson III, Porter’s former coach at Georgetown.

First, nobody could decide what the injury was:

“Is it a muscle thing, like what the hell is it?” EB asked.
“I’m gonna say yes, but I’m not exactly sure,” Thompson answered. “I forget the word that it’s called, but he’s got a bad hip right now.”
“Hip pointer, I believe,” Cakes said.
“No, it’s not a pointer,” JTIII said, still trying to find it. “It’s not a pointer.”
“Is it like a strained hip flexor or something?” Lurch asked.
“Let’s live with that, that sounds good,” JTIII said.
“Coach, has he given you a timeframe when he thinks he’ll be back?” EB asked.
“I mean, if it were up to him, I think he’d be out there right now,” Thompson said. “It’s the medical staff and the trainers saying ‘No, you can’t get out there.’”

Then there was some confusion about how Porter suffered the injury.

Thompson had said earlier that he thought Porter “slipped on a wet spot” during that pickup game in September.

“Wittman told us he strained it shooting free throws,” Eric Bickel said.

“Uhhh, okay,” Thompson replied. “I don’t want to get into a he-said she-said. I didn’t hear that story.”

(Just to clarify, Wittman told the Junkies that Porter had aggravated the injury shooting free throws. But Porter originally suffered the injury when he slipped during the pickup game in September. That much we know. We think.)

Anyway, at least the hoop is just like an ocean for Bradley Beal.

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