rebounds, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, in his second season, Bowie's leg injuries recurred. During a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The MECCA, Bowie and teammate Jerome Kersey became entangled going for a rebound, and as they landed, Bowie's left tibia broke. He was carried off the floor on a stretcher. "I firmly believe I can be one of the top centers in the league if I'm healthy," said Bowie. "One year, things are going to fall into place, and I'm going to show people how good I can be." The next season, Bowie returned. In the season's fifth game against the Dallas Mavericks, Bowie went up for a jump hook shot. As he went up, his legs buckled underneath him and Bowie fell to the floor. He suffered a season-ending fracture of his right tibia. Bowie compared the feeling having his leg chopped by an ax. "It was not a pretty sight," Portland teammate Clyde Drexler recalled. "He went to make a move, fell, and threw the ball down hard off the court. I remember seeing part of the bone sticking out of his leg and how he was beating the floor over and over with his fist." Bowie's subsequent surgery utilized three screws being placed in the bone to keep it together. However, two screws did not hold, so another operation was needed to put in three new screws. Once again, Bowie came back to play. On October 17, 1987, during pregame warmups for a preseason game with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bowie began feeling intense pain in his right leg just walking. Not wanting a stretcher, Bowie was carried off the court by his teammates and was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of his right tibia. On March 29, 1988, Bowie had surgery where he received a graft from his hip bone and had a metal plate with 10 screws permanently attached to his right shin. The injury effectively sidelined him for the next two seasons; he missed all of the 1987–88 season, as well as the first 62 games of the 1988–89 season. All told, Bowie played 63 games out of a possible 328 during his last four seasons in Portland. “I have one huge regret,” said Bowie. “I wish I would’ve been more patient and didn’t come back as quickly as I did the second year I fractured my leg. You