The importance of a solid medical team to a sports organization could hardly have been more clear than on the night of April 25, when bones around the left eye of Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley were fractured by an inadvertent elbow during a playoff game in Portland.

The reaction of the Grizzlies’ medical personnel, led by team physician Frederick M. Azar, MD, was as precise as a military operation.

First, it should be noted that Azar doesn’t travel with the team in the regular season became of the impracticability of being away from his work at Campbell Clinic, where he is chief of staff. But it’s different in the playoffs because the stakes are higher and there’s more urgency in treating injured players.

“We knew he had an injury that rose to the level of possible surgery when he came off the court, just by a clinical diagnosis,” Azar said. “We had him confirmed to the hospital before the game was over. We had everything figured out, had his surgery planned and even had his mask ordered almost before the game was over.”

Conley was sent back to Memphis and had surgery by team ophthalmologist James C. Fleming, MD, while the Grizzlies were still in Portland. Fleming is chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

“We have one orthopedic surgeon, a team internal medicine doctor, a team ophthalmologist, a team dentist and two X-ray techs at every game,” Azar said. “We also have a listing of other subspecialists in case we need a surgeon or a urologist or whatever it might be.”

Conley made what some fans regarded as an incredible comeback, returning to the Grizzles’ lineup 10 days after the injury and scoring 22 points in Game 2 of the NBA semifinals vs. Golden State. Barry Phillips, MD, the head team physician for University of Memphis athletics and for the Memphis Redbirds, wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“I thought he’d be back about like that,” Phillips said. “One, he had really good surgical care. Two, he’s in great shape, and three, he’s an awesome athlete and determined to play.”

Azar agreed. “That’s Mike,” he said. “He’s a warrior and obviously wanted to get back as soon as he could. It’s something that wasn’t easy to do because he was still in pain.”

Like Azar, Phillips is part of the staff of physicians at Campbell Clinic, which provides team doctors for not only the Grizzlies, Redbirds and U of M, but also the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the FedEx St. Jude Classic, Rhodes College, Christian Brothers University and 14 area high schools.

Azar, an MD since 1995, has been team physician for Memphis professional and college teams as well as high school teams. He has seen some things change over the years, primarily because of social media. Athletes at all levels, all the way down to junior high school, post information about their injuries that he never would have divulged because of the confidentiality pact between him and his patients.

“It surprises me how much information somebody wants to post about themselves,” he said. “But I’m fine with it if they’re fine with it.”

Also, patients read about other athletes’ injuries on the Internet and go to Azar with certain expectations about recovery time and outcomes.

“The information is out there and the technology and it’s been very transformative,” he said. “But every patient is different and every injury is different.”

In a nutshell, it’s harder to keep anything quiet.

“In the past, the team would sort of try to keep it under wraps – who’s hurt and who’s not hurt,” Phillips said. “They still would like to do that a little bit, but it’s hard nowadays with so much media. When somebody’s hurt, everybody knows it.”

There was a time in sports when it wasn’t unthinkable for a team owner or coach to press a team doctor or trainer to get an injured player back on the field. With more awareness of the serious, long-term consequences of some injuries, that scenario is less likely to occur.

“I’ve never felt pressure to get somebody back quickly because I treat athletes as patients first,” Azar said. “It would be a waste of time to put pressure on me to put somebody back in prematurely.

“When athletes have a test done, they don’t hear the results from the trainer, they hear it from me directly. The first phone call I make is to the athlete, then to the athletic trainer or the coach or the agent, it’s the player, unless they’re a minor and then I talk to the parents.

“I think back to the ‘90s when I first started doing this, I would say there is probably less pressure. But people understand these days that this is for the long haul and you really want to do what’s best for the patient.”

For a team physician, the ultimate absence of pressure are those rare days when there is little for them to do during a game. Phillips appreciates those quiet days.

“I’m always happy to sit there and watch the game, particularly when it’s nice and sunny,” he said. “There are games where you hardly do anything, and there are games where I’ve missed most of the game. I’m all for the ones where I get to watch it.”

PHOTOS:

Mike Conley

Frederick Azar

RELATED LINKS:

Campbell Clinic, www.campbellclinic.com;

Memphis Grizzlies, www.nba.com/grizzlies