After spending last season with the Clippers, Jared Dudley was traded to the Bucks last summer and has been a valuable member of head coach Jason Kidd’s rotation. While the Clippers made the playoffs for the third year in a row, Dudley suffered through a disappointing season, one in which he was hampered by a troublesome knee injury.
Dudley initially believed tendinitis was the issue, but an x-ray later showed there was a small fracture. With the Clippers shorthanded, Rivers asked Dudley to play through the discomfort.
“I really couldn’t bend my knee 90 degrees so I had to deal with that for the first month or so Dudley said on Zach Lowe’s Grantland podcast via ESPN. I basically went to Doc Rivers and said, ‘Hey, I’ve never had to deal with this, I can’t bend my knee, all my shots are short, I can’t move laterally, I need to sit out.’ At that time Matt Barnes was out with a calf injury and J.J. Redick was out with a herniated disk and he said, ‘Hey, I need you to give me 10-15 games and when those guys come back, I’ll give you a rest.'”
The veteran also mentioned it was his understanding that after playing through the injury he would get a chance to return to Clippers this season healthy and with a clean slate. That obviously didn’t happen with the team sending him to Milwaukee in August.
At this point, the move has worked out well for Dudley. The 51% he’s shooting from the floor would be his career-high and the Bucks have surprised everyone with a 30-23 record at all-star break.
