CHICAGO - -Whenever the Washington Wizards have struggled on the floor or dealt with a string of injuries, Antawn Jamison liked to use the phrase "Groundhog Day," a reference to the Bill Murray comedy in which Murray's character repeats the same day over and over.
The Wizards are forced to start yet another season with a sidelined star after a magnetic resonance imaging Thursday revealed that Jamison would miss three to five weeks more after suffering a shoulder subluxation last week in Cleveland.
"I'm not sure we're snakebitten. I just think it's unfortunate," center Brendan Haywood said before the Wizards' preseason finale against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, a 93-70 loss. "We've dealt with injuries the past couple of years, and this year is no different."
This is the second straight season that the Wizards have started a regular season with at least one major player missing. Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood were out with injuries at the start of last season, and the Wizards went on to match their worst 82-game season in franchise history. This time, the Wizards are optimistic because Jamison's injury won't require surgery and his shoulder has made considerable progress.
Jamison started lifting weights Tuesday and has been doing some light basketball drills. The Wizards expect the injury to keep him out about 10 games.
"He's really ahead of where we anticipated, but we're being really conservative right now," coach Flip Saunders said. "We don't want to take any chances. We want to make sure [it's] fully healed."
Jamison, 33, a two-time All-Star, has missed more than 14 games only once in 11 seasons. He has played in 79 or more games seven times, including 81 last season, when he averaged 22.2 points and 8.9 rebounds.
Jamison called himself "a quick healer" shortly after he suffered the injury while contesting a shot by Cleveland's center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He has regained most of the range of motion in his arm.
The Wizards' hopes of being more than a playoff flirtation have always hinged on their players being healthy - primarily their three stars, Arenas, Caron Butler and Jamison. Arenas, a three-time All-Star, has missed all but 15 regular-season games the past two seasons because of a troublesome left knee, and Butler missed a combined 58 games the past three seasons with an assortment of injuries.
Since the 2006-07 season, Butler, Jamison and Arenas have combined to make four All-Star teams, but have started together in only 61 out of 246 games.
Saunders said Jamison would be evaluated again after the season opener on Tuesday in Dallas.
Butler said the Wizards would have to make do until Jamison returns. "Guys have got to step up," Butler said.
