[...] but then came an incident while he was watching tryouts for the Lakers' development league team, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, on Sept. 23 in El Segundo.
"He sat in the bleachers at the training facility, and after an hour and a half literally couldn't walk," Buss said. " … That's when he knew he had to get answers because he wouldn't have been able to function in the NBA season. I've never seen him like that before."
Surgery became the only solution. Along the way, he received good news regarding his heart, which required surgery in May 2003 to open a blocked artery. As part of the preparation for hip surgery, a CT scan of his heart was promising.
"His cardiologist couldn't have been any more pleased," Buss said. "His heart's as strong as ever."