Report: Vince Carter will forgo surgery to repair torn foot tendon

The seemingly innocuous foot injury Vince Carter suffered on Thursday was apparently worse than initially expected.

Carter hurt his left foot on the defensive end of the floor on Thursday, immediately clutching at it without any apparent contact or incidence of injury. The team only said that Carter hurt a tendon in his left foot, but that tendon is partially torn, according to a report from The Commercial Appeal.

Rather than have surgery to repair the tendon, Carter will don a stabilization boot and begin rehabilitation immediately, with his status to be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

In the first year of a three-year, $12-million contract signed this offseason, Carter is averaging six points in 16.6 minutes, the lowest scoring rate and minutes load of his 17-year career. The Memphis Grizzlies have the wing depth to withstand a short-term absence for the 38-year-old Carter, but they gave him appreciable money for a reason and will need the whole team at full strength to survive the Western Conference thresher come playoff time.