I have had a love affair with the game since I was given a basketball as a toddler. One of my life’s goal is to never stop playing. But it is a reality that all of us hoops-playing junkies must eventually face. One day it could end.
As Jackie Robinson once said, “Athletes die twice.”
I think I could play competitively until I’m, like, 60. When it comes to basketball, it’s easy to slip into delusion. But that is the hallmark of many athletes, no what level. It’s okay to be disconnected from reality.
Today, a few days after my second ACL knee reconstruction surgery in less than five years, I sit here, thinking about my basketball mortality.
On one hand, if it ends here, I’ve had a great run. I played high school and college basketball. In recent years, I’ve been fortunate to play in the E League—the old NBA Entertainment League.
Knee reconstructive surgery is no joke. After my first ACL surgery, I was shooting baskets three months later. Honestly, during this time, it was the most fun I ever had playing basketball
I started to wonder, could I come back better than ever?
The Wall Street Journal recently analyzed NBA players who have suffered ACL injuries. Do they come back better or worse? While no one would wish this injury on anyone, WSJ’s conclusion: “Give Thanks for That Knee Injury.”
The Journal looked at 34 NBA players who have torn an ACL since 2003. To factor out the effects of age, we limited the sample to the 20 players who were 26 years or younger at the time of the injury. Since coming back, those players have shot 42% from 16 to 23 feet—up from 38% before their injuries, a fairly significant improvement.
It might not be intuitive, but it makes sense: When you’re recovering from ACL surgery, you really cannot do anything fancy. You can shoot and you can dribble. That’s really it. But, those two fundamentals actually matter.
It was during my time on the shelf that I re-discovered my love for the game. My original goal was just to get back to playing pick-up. But I was doing so well with my rehab that I ratcheted up my goal to be able to play in a competitive league.
In 2009-10, I got the Golden Ticket into the E League. And I was ready to go.
My rookie season was sweet. By then, I was two years removed from my first ACL surgery and hardly thought about it when I was on the court. Our team’s point guard was Jay Valentine, an R&B singer and songwriter. He was the prototypical drive-and-dish point guard. He’d come up to me before games and say, “You better be ready to shoot. Because I am going to get you the ball.” No problem!
I’d go warm up and shoot for an hour and half. (I had to be ready!) We had a great point guard in Valentine. We also had the league’s best player in Harvey Mason, who played on Arizona’s 1988 Final Four team and is now a very successful music producer (Google him). Besides by League MVP, he got everyone to play together and reward open cutters and, in my case, the standstill shooter. I was good for nine points a game, including a turn-back-the-clock 23-point game on 7-for-10 shooting on threes.
We made it to the championship game, where we played in front of 1,500 people. We were the warmup act for a Ball Up exhibition, which explains the SRO crowd. My team was up one point with three minutes to go, but ended up losing by five. It was a tough loss, which still irritates me to this day. But it was incredibly cool to play in games that mattered so much.
Everything was smooth sailing. I hardly thought about my left knee. Then, last month, playing in the E League, I blew out my knee again.
Instinctively, I tried to close out on the open shooter. My intent was not to block his shot. I just wanted get my hand up. But he was one of those shooters who jumped a foot or two forward on his release. And I was probably a little too jacked up and got closer than I should have. The result: a mid-air bump, which threw off my landing. Worst of all, it happened right in front of my 3-year old daughter.
The result was fairly gruesome. I heard a crunching sound, which I knew was not good. I was in obvious pain, but I still held out hope that my ACL was in tact. Then the MRI revealed bone fractures, a torn meniscus and the dreaded torn ACL. The same knee I tore five years ago.
I went under the knife on Monday. Five days post-op, I am feeling much better.
Should I give up playing basketball, as many friends and family advise? Nah. Maybe basketball is a madness. But it also makes me sane. Like Kobe Bryant, I am plotting my comeback. #CountonIsenberg
