09-23-2020, 10:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-23-2020, 10:08 PM by radioaktiv.)
What I'm saying is a guy could get injured for consecutive years, for varying reason - luck, weakness at some parts of his body, play style, etc. Guy could find a way to mitigate those factors (like Curry worked on strengthening his ankles and had shoes specifically designed for him), and the frequency of the injuries could lessen. As the article pointed out, KP's injuries were contact injuries and could happen to anyone, and there are things he can do about it (strengthening).
Naysayers could be right and he'll be injured half of the time all his career. It's not like I expect him to suddenly become invincible like John Stockton LOL. But given his dedication to the game I have confidence he'll do what he can, and with some luck he could turn this around. Maybe he could be a Bradley Beal and suddenly plays 75+ games for consecutive seasons, you know?
Scott, that's weird, there' no pay wall for me. But here's some excerpts.
"T.O. Souryal, the Mavericks' former longtime team doctor, isn’t ready to decry the 25-year-old Porzingis' durability, longevity or potential.
Instead, Porzingis' latest setback might be a product of the evolution of the center position and his touch-heavy, versatile fit in the Mavericks' scheme.
“Anytime you have a star player with multiple injuries, especially to both knees, it’s a little troubling,” Souryal said. “But he seems to have come back from his ACL stronger than ever, so that injury’s behind us now. Each one of these injuries should be taken on its own merit.”
Souryal, who also served as a two-time president of the NBA Physicians Association and is now a leading orthopedic surgeon for Texas Sports Medicine, hasn’t treated Porzingis. Souryal stepped down from his role as the Mavericks' head team physician after 22 years in 2015, more than three years before Porzingis arrived in Dallas.
But Souryal worked with a handful of Mavericks, including Terry Davis, Nick Van Exel and Randy White, who suffered lateral meniscus injuries.
Porzingis said the tear happened after Clippers center Marcus Morris Sr. accidentally fell into him while Porzingis went for an offensive rebound. That means “it may have happened to anybody in that situation,” Souryal said.
Injuries from non-contact situations, like when Mavericks center Dwight Powell tore his right Achilles tendon in January, are generally more concerning, Souryal said.
Porzingis tore his left ACL in February 2018 while with the Knicks after landing awkwardly from a contested dunk.
“I can’t really be too worried about that. Both of them were contact injuries,” Porzingis said in August of his injury history. “These things happen. What I can do is focus on the work that I can put into it to make sure that I decrease the possibility of that happening. That means strengthening every day and just trying to do all the preventative work I can.”
In evaluating Porzingis' medical timeline, which now includes tears in both knees and a handful of sprains, strains and sorenesses in his lower extremities, Souryal separates each instance.
History, he said, doesn’t typically contribute to a contact injury. Instead, the frequency of Porzingis' injuries may be tied to a different kind of trend.
As the role of NBA centers has evolved, so has the style of defense they face and the wear on their bodies.
In the 1990s and early 2000s when Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing starred at center, for example, they spent long stretches of possessions under the basket with less need for agility or to space the floor from the 3-point line.
Now, almost every center shoots from 3-point range, drives to the basket and defends outside the paint.
The play of centers more often looks like that of guards, so it’s no coincidence, Souryal said, that their list of injuries — such as ankle sprains and knee ligament tears — can, too.
“[Porzingis] plays more similar to a Luka than the traditional center, [who were] not so agile, not very quick, not very fast,” Souryal said. “Physics really comes into play now. You know, the velocity of the movement, it does make you susceptible to injury, and it’s not so much Kristaps. It’s anyone who moves that fast, plants that quick, jumps that rapidly.”
....
Porzingis, who received platelet-rich plasma injections during the playoffs and recently posted a photo on Instagram of him at a work out, has not made a decision on whether he’ll have surgery this offseason or rehabilitate his right knee otherwise.
But neither option should be a threat to his career longevity.
Meniscus injuries aren’t new in basketball, especially in positions that require players to have a quick twitch and face frequent contact. In the last decade or so, the NBA has just seen a broader range of players who are likely to face those situations.
“We are noticing more injuries in the bigs than we have before, but it’s not so much because there are more injuries,” Souryal said. "It’s because the position has evolved and the player playing in that position has evolved.
“You’re seeing many, many more bigs than you did decades ago, and they’re far more athletic than they were decades ago. Two plus two equals four, so you’re seeing more bigs, seeing more athleticism, and therefore you’re seeing more of the common basketball injuries.”
Naysayers could be right and he'll be injured half of the time all his career. It's not like I expect him to suddenly become invincible like John Stockton LOL. But given his dedication to the game I have confidence he'll do what he can, and with some luck he could turn this around. Maybe he could be a Bradley Beal and suddenly plays 75+ games for consecutive seasons, you know?
Scott, that's weird, there' no pay wall for me. But here's some excerpts.
"T.O. Souryal, the Mavericks' former longtime team doctor, isn’t ready to decry the 25-year-old Porzingis' durability, longevity or potential.
Instead, Porzingis' latest setback might be a product of the evolution of the center position and his touch-heavy, versatile fit in the Mavericks' scheme.
“Anytime you have a star player with multiple injuries, especially to both knees, it’s a little troubling,” Souryal said. “But he seems to have come back from his ACL stronger than ever, so that injury’s behind us now. Each one of these injuries should be taken on its own merit.”
Souryal, who also served as a two-time president of the NBA Physicians Association and is now a leading orthopedic surgeon for Texas Sports Medicine, hasn’t treated Porzingis. Souryal stepped down from his role as the Mavericks' head team physician after 22 years in 2015, more than three years before Porzingis arrived in Dallas.
But Souryal worked with a handful of Mavericks, including Terry Davis, Nick Van Exel and Randy White, who suffered lateral meniscus injuries.
Porzingis said the tear happened after Clippers center Marcus Morris Sr. accidentally fell into him while Porzingis went for an offensive rebound. That means “it may have happened to anybody in that situation,” Souryal said.
Injuries from non-contact situations, like when Mavericks center Dwight Powell tore his right Achilles tendon in January, are generally more concerning, Souryal said.
Porzingis tore his left ACL in February 2018 while with the Knicks after landing awkwardly from a contested dunk.
“I can’t really be too worried about that. Both of them were contact injuries,” Porzingis said in August of his injury history. “These things happen. What I can do is focus on the work that I can put into it to make sure that I decrease the possibility of that happening. That means strengthening every day and just trying to do all the preventative work I can.”
In evaluating Porzingis' medical timeline, which now includes tears in both knees and a handful of sprains, strains and sorenesses in his lower extremities, Souryal separates each instance.
History, he said, doesn’t typically contribute to a contact injury. Instead, the frequency of Porzingis' injuries may be tied to a different kind of trend.
As the role of NBA centers has evolved, so has the style of defense they face and the wear on their bodies.
In the 1990s and early 2000s when Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing starred at center, for example, they spent long stretches of possessions under the basket with less need for agility or to space the floor from the 3-point line.
Now, almost every center shoots from 3-point range, drives to the basket and defends outside the paint.
The play of centers more often looks like that of guards, so it’s no coincidence, Souryal said, that their list of injuries — such as ankle sprains and knee ligament tears — can, too.
“[Porzingis] plays more similar to a Luka than the traditional center, [who were] not so agile, not very quick, not very fast,” Souryal said. “Physics really comes into play now. You know, the velocity of the movement, it does make you susceptible to injury, and it’s not so much Kristaps. It’s anyone who moves that fast, plants that quick, jumps that rapidly.”
....
Porzingis, who received platelet-rich plasma injections during the playoffs and recently posted a photo on Instagram of him at a work out, has not made a decision on whether he’ll have surgery this offseason or rehabilitate his right knee otherwise.
But neither option should be a threat to his career longevity.
Meniscus injuries aren’t new in basketball, especially in positions that require players to have a quick twitch and face frequent contact. In the last decade or so, the NBA has just seen a broader range of players who are likely to face those situations.
“We are noticing more injuries in the bigs than we have before, but it’s not so much because there are more injuries,” Souryal said. "It’s because the position has evolved and the player playing in that position has evolved.
“You’re seeing many, many more bigs than you did decades ago, and they’re far more athletic than they were decades ago. Two plus two equals four, so you’re seeing more bigs, seeing more athleticism, and therefore you’re seeing more of the common basketball injuries.”