Al Jefferson 'Felt a Pop' in Injured Knee

All of a sudden, an All-Star snub is the least of Al Jefferson's concerns: the big man was helped off the court after landing awkwardly on his right leg near the end of Sunday's loss against the Hornets.

As you can see in this (rather crummy) video, he immediately knew something was wrong, hopping on one leg to mid-court before collapsing in pain. For Timberwolves fans, it was a scary sight -- and we won't know just how scary until he undergoes an MRI sometime on Monday.

When asked about the injury after the game, Jefferson admitted to thinking that his season might be over. From the Pioneer Press:

"You think the worst all the time," Jefferson said.

He added: "Yeah. I felt a pop. Nothing like it was last time; I couldn't put pressure on it last time. It makes me feel a lot better" that he could put some pressure on it afterward.

Feeling "a pop" is usually associated with a ligament snapping, but not always -- again, we won't know for sure until he's examined further. He sprained his MCL in the same knee a couple of weeks before training camp and was at full strength by the start of the regular season -- if that injury was truly worse than this one, than he could be back within a few weeks.

But after seeing a guy like Andrew Bynum put on the shelf for 2-3 months after suffering a knee injury of his own less than a week ago, it's tough to be confident one way or the other.