This isn’t what you wanted to see happen. One of the NBA’s best players and one of the world’s best basketball players leaves Monday night’s game against New Orleans Pelicans with an ankle injury. Curry has a history of ankle injuries plaguing the initial part of his career.
It was one of the reasons why Nike was hesitant in offering Curry a basketball contract. The Mercury News wrote an article earlier this week summarizing the history of Steph’s ankles. He left the game on crutches and will miss the next 2 weeks, minimum, while receiving care and treatment. Prior to surgery, to surgery, to the last few seasons in the NBA to right now. His ankles nearly derailed his career.
His X-rays were negative. MRI showed no structural damage. Swelling, of course. Ligament disruption, absolutely. Tendon damage, check. Inflammation is a two-way street. Inflammation is there to protect the joint. Inflammation also can be painful. You can see how heavily his ankles are protected. He tapes them. He wears a brace. His Curry 4 Signature shoe is also a high top sneaker.
Anatomy Review
The ankle is made up of the tibia, fibula, and the talus. Three distinct bones held together via ligaments and muscles. Speaking on Curry’s history of ankle injuries specifically, each time he’s injured his ankles the ligaments and capsule become more and more stretched increasing the instability of his ankles. He did have two surgeries to reattach torn ligaments and restabilize his ankle (specifically his right one).
Repeated exposure to rolled ankles damages ligaments such as: talofibular (anterior and posterior), calcaneofibular, and tibiofibular ligaments. Associated tendon damage can include: peroneus longus and brevis, partial gastrocnemius, and partial soleus muscles. So with those structures being exposed to repeated loaded stretch, the fibers are damaged thus compromising the stability of his ankle.
What Could I do?
Rest assure, he’s getting everyone’s best effort in the Golden State in terms of treatment. From traditional physical therapy modalities, manual soft tissue work, chiropractic work, mobilizations techniques, they are doing everything to get him back. That doesn’t mean he’ll be rushed back to the court. He still has basic checks to clear before even considering getting back to practice let alone a game.
What I am doing first is checking to see if he can bare any weight and how much pain it is for him to bare weight. If he’s still on crutches, then he’s not doing that at all. But this is the test I do for all people who come into the office. Weight shifts!
With the testing, we’ll be working on muscles of the lower leg and muscles of the foot for pain relief via Active Release Technique. And then we retest with ankle shifts. The goal for me in this initial two weeks is pain relief, getting him off crutches, and walking around with no pain.
By no means is this going to just go away this season. I could foresee a situation where he will miss games due to a nagging ankle injury. Many fans are hoping he is back in time for the Christmas Day match-up against the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think he wants to be back for that game, but depending on his rehabilitation goes, it may be best if he misses it. But time will tell. Only him and the training staff know. Happy Healings!