Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward Rudy Fernandez underwent a successful microdiscectomy Tuesday to alleviate pain in his right leg, General Manager Kevin Pritchard announced today.

Fernandez, 24, will miss 4-6 weeks as a result of the procedure, which relieved pressure from a nerve root in his lower back that caused pain in his right leg.

“The procedure was successful and we can now turn our attention to getting Rudy healthy and back on the court,” said Pritchard. “He’s been under a lot of pain and we look forward to Rudy returning healthier than ever.”

Dr. George Shanno performed the procedure at Southwest Washington Regional Surgery Center in Vancouver, Wash.

Fernandez appeared in Portland’s first 20 games this season, averaging 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 23.3 minutes. He leads the Trail Blazers and ranks among NBA leaders with 1.55 steals per game.

The Palma de Mallorca, Spain, native leads team qualifiers with a 38.8 percent (31-for-80) mark from three-point range. Fernandez’s 159 three-pointers last season set an NBA rookie record.

Danny Granger will miss a minimum of four to six weeks with a torn right plantar fascia.  No surgery will be required and rehabilitation begins immediately.  Granger sustained the injury during the third quarter of Saturday night’s game at the L.A. Clippers.

Granger has played in 17 games and is the Pacers leading scorer at 24.4 points per game. He also averages 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.59 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

This is a huge blow to an Indiana team that has a 6-12 record and relies heavily on Granger.  Their next leading scorer is Dahntay Jones (15.3 ppg, followed by Mike Dunleavy (12.2 ppg).

It’ll be tough to make up Granger’s scoring. There aren’t a lot of offensive weapons on the roster.

Read fan reaction and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

VH1 these days is packed with shows that often have nothing to do with music. Your own InsideHoops.com editor was one of the main people on one VH1 special episode, “Fabulous Life of Hoop Superstars,” back a few years ago.

The latest on VH1 as well as other stations are reality shows. They’re cheap to produce and, while often embarrassing to admit to watching, quite often entertaining.

This new show sounds right up the alley of what a gossip-loving basketball fan would want.

Vibe.com reports:

Shaq’s soon-to-be ex-wife Shaunie O’ Neal is planning to executive produce and star in an upcoming VH1 reality series about the tumultuous life of being the wife of a basketball star.

The series, Basketball Wives, is set to be began shooting this month, focusing on the “glamorous” and cliquey world of women who date famous (and some infamous) NBA stars– athletes whose world involves being away from home almost six months out the year.

The show is expected to include wives, and ex-wives. VH1 plans to chronicle the women enjoying the luxuries that come as a privilege of being affiliated with a pro baller, but also the paranoia of dealing with their groupies. Other women included in the series are Jennifer Williams (wife of Eric Williams), Evelyn Lozada (ex-fiancé of Antoine Walker), Mesha O’Neal (wife of Jermaine O’Neal), Royce Reed, and Faith Rain (Udonis Haslem’s girlfriend).

I know I’ll be tuning in. As the show actually starts, I’ll remind you of it, on the InsideHoops.com front page, this blog, and/or our rumors page, so keep going Inside Hoops every day.