Andrew Bogut suffered one of the most horrific injuries in NBA history last year when he dislocated his right elbow, broke his right hand and sprained his right wrist after crashing to the floor on a dunk. Amar'e Stoudemire, then with the Phoenix Suns, nudged Bogut while he was in the air, leading to the disastrous fall of the Milwaukee Bucks' center.
"He completely dismantled his elbow and wrist," said NBA announcer Mike Breen. "He will not get full range of motion back. It'll never go back to 100%."
Bogut's injury is arguably the hardest video to watch in sports. Right up there with Joe Theismann's leg and LeBron James' "The Decision". Yet the Australian center has no problem watching his own agonizing fall. According to Breen, Bogut's approach is, "I don't care. I want to see what happened."
Tuesday night, Bogut faced Stoudemire for the first time since suffering his injury. The two players met at midcourt for the pre-game Captain's meeting. Stoudemire asked Bogut if he was doing OK as they shook hands. Bogut briefly responded in the affirmative and the two returned to their warmup rituals.
The Bucks jumped out to a big early lead and outplayed the Knicks throughout the game. After being elbowed by Bogut while fighting for a rebound during the third quarter, Stoudemire lashed out at him and the Bucks' bench, drawing a technical foul.
"It was intentional," Stoudemire said of Bogut's flying elbows. "I think they might have amped him up to play very physical out there. That might have been the way he reacted on the court."
Either that or Bogut remembers being pushed by the same Amar'e Stoudemire, leaving his arm in multiple fragments of agony.
Bogut capped off a late third quarter, ten point Bucks run by blocking Stoudemire's and running the floor for an Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oye Oye Oye, outback mega dunk.
A shattered elbow paid back with a tech inducing elbow. A broken hand repaid with a block and a monster slam. Missed playoffs avenged by serving Stoudemire his most lopsided defeat with the Knicks, 107-80. Bogut shot 5-5. The avenging dunk was his final bucket of the night.
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