Agent Says Manning Is Out, but Clippers Uncertain

While the Clippers continue their wait-and-see vigil on the future of Danny Manning, speculation continues that the star rookie is heading for major knee surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation.

Manning injured his right knee late in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s game at Milwaukee. It was initially diagnosed by Dr. David Haskell, the Bucks’ orthopedic consultant, as a hyper-extension. Upon returning to Los Angeles, however, Dr. Tony Daly, the Clipper team physician, reported there was a tear in one of the knee’s main ligaments, the anterior cruciate.

The only question remaining was how serious the tear was, and that much won’t be determined until Monday or Tuesday, when the swelling in the knee is expected to have subsided.

In a worst-case scenario, the injury is one of the most serious a basketball player can suffer, similar to one that sidelined former Laker Mitch Kupchak and Bernard King, now of the Washington Bullets.

Ron Grinker, Manning’s Cincinnati-based agent, said the worst is expected, that the upcoming examinations may only be a formality.

“As of right now, I’ve been told by Dr. Daly that Danny is not going to play any more this year,” Grinker said. “We didn’t discuss what the rest of the year meant, whether it’s the rest of the season, the rest of the calendar year or 12 months.

“Danny doesn’t think it’s short term at all. Danny’s a man. He knows what the situation is. There’s no secrets.

“Hopefully, that’s not the case and no one is sure of that.”

Daly, however, said Friday night that no diagnosis has been made on the seriousness of the injury to the National Basketball Assn.’s No. 1 draft pick of 1988 and the college basketball player of the year.

“We haven’t decided that,” Daly said of Grinker’s claims. “It could be true. I’m doing another MRI (magnetic resonance imaging, a sort of computer-enhanced X-ray) Tuesday. At that time, I will make a final determination.

“There’s definitely something in there (the knee). I don’t know how bad yet.”

Grinker also said he will have another doctor perform the operation, if one is needed. He refused to comment why, but he reportedly has been unhappy with some of the previous work by Daly, a respected doctor within U.S. amateur athletics and the chief medical officer for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in conjunction with the 1984 Games.

But exactly when Grinker and Manning will select another doctor is unsure.

“At the right time,” Grinker said. “When we have all the information.”

Manning is not taking phone calls at his Hermosa Beach home. His only statement came Thursday and was released through the Clippers.

“I’ve been in better spirits, but I’m not going to jump to any conclusions,” he said. “I’ll just try to prepare myself for whatever happens.”

In 26 games since joining the Clippers after a holdout, Manning emerged as one of the leading candidates for rookie of the year and had become one of the major factors as the Clippers reached the 10-victory plateau 3 weeks earlier than last season.

He is averaging 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists and has started 17 games. Moreover, in the 5 outings before the Milwaukee game, Manning’s numbers were 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.

“The big thing was he allowed me to do certain things with the team,” said Coach Gene Shue, whose team plays the New York Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden. “I was able to experiment using two big guards at the same time in the lineup--Quintin (Dailey) and Reggie (Williams) . . . That’s because Danny handles the ball so well. He just adds another dimension to the entire team.”

Times staff writer Elliott Almond contributed to this story.