Sober diagnosis: Warriors’ Klay Thompson advised by knee specialist to sit out two years
Dr. Tim Hewett claims that three NBA athletes re-injured themselves after an ACL tear in the past decade, a nearly 10 percent re-injury rate.
CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
Just a couple days after a report surfaced suggesting Kevin Durant could fully rehabilitate his Achilles injury and return to the court during the 2019-20 season, a knee specialist is advising Klay Thompson to take two years off.
What’s next for the Warriors — Stephen Curry getting the yips?
Dr. Tim Hewett, speaking to Heavy.com, wasn’t picking on Thompson, who blew out his left ACL in fateful Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He advises that protocol for every high-power athlete and has presented a paper to that to effect.
“Please do share that with Klay,” Dr. Hewett told Heavy.com. “This is not my opinion. People say to me, ‘Well, that is your opinion, there are other opinions.’ No, I deal in science and I deal in fact. People don’t like to hear it but it does not change the facts, and that facts are that you’re at risk for re-injury before two years and you won’t be the same player in the first year.”
Gulp.
The good doctor is not a lightweight. A peek at his Linkedin profile suggests a business card the size of the gigantic checks that are presented to lottery winners.
The standard procedure for the kind of injury Thompson suffered is a nine- to 12-month rehab.
Hewett isn’t dealing in hypotheticals. He said Jabari Parker fell victim to re-injury two years ago, and contends re-injury after ACL injuries effectively ended the careers of Josh Howard (in 2013) and Michael Redd (in 2012). Going back a decade, he said, these were the only catastrophic re-injuries. But, Hewett told Heavy.com, there were 31 ACL injuries during that time — a near 10 percent re-injury rate. Hewett said data going back 25 years shows the same re-injury rate.
Thompson, of course, is aiming to get back on the court near the end of this season. And after that, the postseason. And after that, the 2020 Olympics.
Bad idea, Hewett said.
“It’s not just psychological,” he said. “It is physical, too. Your graft is still mush. You are grafting a piece of tendon onto the ACL in that surgery. It takes 18-24 months for a grafted ligament to re-ligamentize, to mature to the point where it is something close to a baseline of where it was before. If you are playing before that, you’re playing on a ligament that’s not done healing.”
It would be shocking if Thompson decided to sit out two years. For one thing, the reimagined Warriors need him. For another, he lives for ball. And for another, he just signed a max contract. And for another, that 10 percent re-injury rate doesn’t seem so daunting.
“It’s a lot of money to pay someone to not play.” Hewett said, “but he would be working. And if you have that second injury while a guy is under contract, you just lost all the money.”