Ronny update

LOS ANGELES — Ronny Turiaf, the Los Angeles Lakers’ second-round draft pick last month, will undergo heart surgery next week to correct a life-threatening condition.

The operation is scheduled for Tuesday at Stanford University Medical Center, Lakers spokesman John Black said Saturday. Turiaf, 22, is expected to remain in the hospital for a week.

The procedure will repair an enlarged aortic root, discovered during a physical Turiaf took as a condition of joining the team, Black said.

An examination a couple of years ago and another earlier this year at the pre-NBA draft camp turned up an abnormality. In both instances doctors cleared him to play. But further examinations by Lakers physicians revealed the more serious problem. It was confirmed by other independent experts.

—Associated Press