Udoh suffers knee injury, to undergo surgery

D’Tigers forward Ekpe Udoh will undergo knee surgery in the next few days and his recovery time will be communicated after the operation, his club Virtus Bologna have announced.

Sportinglife.ng reports that the 34-year-old suffered a serious knee injury after slipping on an on-court sticker early during the win over Tortona for the Italian SuperCup quarterfinals on Saturday night.

Virtus said on Sunday morning that Udoh underwent medicals that showed a complete injury to the patellar tendon of his left knee.

“We are in shock and worried,” Virtus Bologna coach Sergio Scariolo said after the game on Udoh’s injury. The Italian coach spoke against the use of slippery stickers on basketball floors which have often caused players to hurt themselves.

“The biggest concern is Udoh’s injury. It seems to be bad, he’s the center around whom our game revolves. This story of the court stickers that players slip on is something to think about. It’s a very serious injury for the player and a serious one for the team.

I hope it serves to make it clear that we need to have the utmost attention on these things. There are no stickers in the NBA.”

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Udoh was part of Nigeria’s 16-man training camp roster in advance of a trio of exhibition games in Las Vegas, where D’Tigers played United States, Argentina and Australia in preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.