Shortened season taking its toll on players’ health – NBA Update
With just two days into the playoffs and the players are falling like autumn leaves - Derrick Rose, Caron Butler and Iman Shumpert were sidelined for the season due to nagging injuries - many pundits of the game are arguing that
the shortened lockout season is responsible for the wear and tear.
Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah put his weight behind the claim recently.
"Yeah, probably," Noah said. "Probably."
When Dr. David Altchek from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, was approached with the question that the regular season’s fatigue can result into such injuries.
"There is no evidence that wear and tear, or that kind of issue, playing too much, really has any correlation with ACL injuries in any sport that we've ever studied,"
There is no doubt that playing 66 games in 4 months and just one day off before playoff has taken its toll on every one. But the expert on matter Dr. David Altchek said that if a player is tired then the chances for ACL are minimal
as the player will lack the explosiveness required to blow out a knee ligament.
"In fact, I think if you're tired, you're a lot less likely to tear your ACL because you're not going to be as explosive,"
Rose has been suffering with string of injuries throughout season he missed a total of 27 games due to groin, back spasm, foot and ankle problems but he never complained about Knee issues.
But it happened all of a sudden in the dying moments of 4th quarter in the game against Philadelphia 76ers. Rose jumped and made a pass but fell to the ground immediately holding his knee. The excruciating pain left
him rolling on the court and was carried away by the medical personals.
The scenario was more or less same when Shumpert took the fall. He was dribbling the ball near half court and suddenly fell on the court, clutching his knee. Screaming and rolling he laid there for some time before carried out
of the court by fellow players.
The estimated time for their recovery is 6-9 months and that seriously jeopardized their respective teams’ playoff’s hope.
It is assumed that ACL results after a direct hit on either side of the knee and is more common in footballers then Basketball player. But neither of the players received a direct hit so the possibility of monotonous season cannot
be ruled out.
The shortened season resulted into 2 extra games per month for a team and all of the players who were sidelined played a pivotal role for their teams. Players like Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Andrew Bogut, Jeremy Lin and Stephen
Curry and their injuries were a clear result of fatigue.
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