NBA Season Opens with Gruesome Ankle Injury – Dr Sean Sullivan, PT, DPT – Grand Central

NBA Season Opens with Gruesome Ankle Injury – Dr Sean Sullivan, PT, DPT – Grand Central

Ankle Sprain

The 2017-18 NBA season tipped off last night with a rematch of last years Eastern Conference Finals pitting the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics.  Just minutes into the first quarter Celtic small Forward Gordon Hayward went up for an alley-oop dunk from guard Kyrie Irving when came down awkwardly on his left ankle.  The photo below shows Hayward in the air before landing on his left leg. The next photo shows Hayward sitting on the court in visible pain and gives a great view of how his ankle looked after the fall.  Those who are squeamish, scroll down with caution.

While further details are still to come on the specifics of Hayward’s injury, what we do know is that he sustained a fracture of his left Tibia(Shin Bone) and a dislocation of his ankle joint. He is set to have surgery on that ankle Wednesday back in Boston.  He will likely require a plate/screw/nail fixation(Open reduction with internal fixation) to keep his ankle joint stable and possibly a repair of the ligaments that work to stabilize his ankle.  Luckily the Celtics medical staff were able to reduce/relocate his ankle on the court before placing it in an air cast which helped to reduce his pain.  He also likely avoided any nerve/blood vessel damage that can occur with this type of injury as this would require immediate surgery.

Rehab for this type of surgery is likely to be at least 3-4 months but possibly longer depending on the degree of soft tissue damage that Hayward sustained.  This is important because when a joint is dislocated, often times the surrounding ligaments become compromised, as they work passively to stabilize the joint.  As discussed in my post on high ankle sprains, soft tissue such as ligaments do not heal as quickly as bone due to their poor blood supply.  If the damage to the surrounding ligaments of Hayward’s ankle is severe, this will likely add months to his recovery and will make his return this season very unlikely.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *