Davis undergoes surgery on knee, won't have procedure on shoulder

New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis underwent surgery on his left knee Thursday, when it was also determined he won't require surgery to repair a partially torn left labrum.

The latter development comes as a surprise, given that Davis said Monday he's been playing with a torn labrum for three years.

"He reports only mild soreness in his shoulder which occurs very infrequently after games," Dr. Neal ElAttrache said in a statement. "Anthony has not missed any playing time due to his shoulder. He denies recurrent instability, feels that his shoulder is strong, he has no apprehension and feels that he is able to perform at 100 percent of his capacity regarding his shoulder."

Davis missed time last season due to a right shoulder injury, with the labrum tear on his left side. ElAttrache has performed procedures on several big-name athletes, including Kobe Bryant, Manny Pacquiao, Manny Machado, and Vontaze Burfict.

"We would recommend a conservative approach for players like this," ElAttrache said. "If he develops problems which affect his performance, we would repair his labrum at that point."

The Pelicans said the timetable for Davis' return is three-to-four months, which should have him ready well ahead of next season. That's a slight improvement over Davis' previous estimation of four-to-five months. He said last week he won't be able to participate in this summer's OIympics.

Davis, a three-time All-Star in his first four years in the NBA, has yet to play more than 68 games in a campaign due to various injuries. A legitimate MVP candidate a year ago, his production dipped slightly in 2015-16 - specifically his PER, which dropped 5.7 points from a league-leading 30.8 last season.