Bulls amazed Noah could play nine games before having thumb surgery

Bulls center Joakim Noah had surgery Thursday morning to repair a torn ulna collateral ligament in his right thumb.

Before moving on without their best rebounder and interior defender for 8 to 10 weeks, there was a chance to marvel at what Noah has done since first suffering the injury on Nov. 27 at Sacramento.

Noah played in nine games since that night, averaging 11.4 points and 9.2 rebounds while helping lead the Bulls on a seven-game winning streak.

With this type of injury, playing even one minute is out of the question in most cases, according to a Bulls trainer. Noah logged nearly 300 minutes with a bad thumb.

“Every one of these I've dealt with, either through pain or instability, they've never been able to play and surgery was immediately called into question,” trainer Fred Tedeschi said Thursday at the Berto Center. “Joakim was able to function at a high level, which is very, very unusual for these injuries.”

Why did the Bulls wait? They felt there wasn't any more damage that could be done, since the ligament was already torn. While Noah might have considered trying to play the whole season without surgery, general manager Gar Forman said Noah didn't resist the ultimate decision.

“This one's a little more difficult because we're watching him play and still be productive,” Forman said. “It really is amazing and a testament to him that he was able to play through this. Obviously, Joakim is a warrior.”

Tedeschi suggested repairing the ligament would have been more difficult if the procedure was put off for a month or longer. The surgery was performed by Dr. Mark Cohen and Dr. John Fernandez of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush University Medical Center.

“The doctors told me this morning the tissue that was put back was in great shape,” Tedeschi said.

Kirk Hinrich had a similar injury and surgery early in the 2008-09 season. He was back on the court after nine weeks off.

A similar recovery would place Noah's return at or near Feb. 23, the first game after the all-star break. The timing could be worse for the Bulls. There are 30 games left before the break and 22 of their opponents had losing records as of Thursday morning.

The schedule gets tougher after March 1, when the Bulls play five road dates against Miami, Orlando and Atlanta.

“We'll have him for probably a solid 4 to 6 weeks heading into what hopefully will be the playoffs,” Forman said.

The Bulls (16-8) already played without power forward Carlos Boozer for five weeks due to a broken bone in his right hand and went 9-6 without him. At least Boozer and Noah were able to get some experience playing together. The Bulls were 7-2 with both big men in the lineup.

Forman mentioned that the team has been looking into the possibility of signing an available player or making a trade. In the short term, they'll likely move Taj Gibson into the starting lineup with Boozer.

This is exactly the reason the Bulls signed veteran Kurt Thomas in the summer. Thomas, 38, has played just 12 minutes all season, but was essentially being saved for an emergency, like this one.

Last year in Milwaukee, Thomas played sparingly all season, then ended up starting in the playoffs after Andrew Bogut suffered a nasty arm injury. Thomas produced 7.9 rebounds and 5.4 points in the first-round against Atlanta.

Last year the Bulls were playing well at midseason, then fell apart when Noah missed time with plantar fasciitis. The Bulls went 6-12 without Noah, posting a 10-game losing streak in March.