The 2022-23 NBA season lost some luster when the Thunder announced that No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren would miss the entirety of his rookie campaign with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.
According to Thunder general manager Sam Presti, there is a positive long-term prognosis for Holmgren’s injury. The bigger picture that Presti mentions is the key factor in OKC’s cautious approach with the 20-year-old, who will take a year to rehab ahead of his debut in the 2023-24 campaign.
While not completely foreign, the Lisfranc injury is not exactly common among NBA players, with Udonis Haslem (2010) and Furkan Korkmaz (2017) serving as the most recent relevant examples.
For more understanding of the injury, The Sporting News reached out to medical expert, Dr. Michael S. George of the KSF Orthopaedic Center in Houston, who provided more understanding of the injury, its causes and the prospect of Holmgren returning to peak level based on historic examples of Lisfranc injuries in other athletes.
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Lisfranc injury explained: Expert medical analysis on Chet Holmgren’s future
What is a Lisfranc injury?
“A Lisfranc injury is a dislocation of the second metatarsal bone, which is the long bone in the forefoot, that articulates with the second toe, dislocated from the medial cuneiform, which is the wedge-shaped bone on the medial aspect of the midfoot. The injury occurs from axial load and rotation through a hyper plantarflexed forefoot.
“Lisfranc injuries can be purely ligamentous or can involve a fracture of one or more bones.”
Is the injury a product of Chet Holmgren’s build?
“It would be difficult to determine if (Holmgren’s) body type makes him prone to this and other similar injuries.
“Some athletes have loose ligaments that make them more prone to dislocations, and while much has been made of his slender frame, (Holmgren’s) appearance alone does not mean he has loose ligaments.”
Time will tell if he is injury prone or not.
How are Lisfranc injuries treated?
“Lisfranc injuries do require surgery.
“Depending on the exact injury, the surgery involves realigning the bones and holding them in place with pins, screws or suture devices. In some cases, hardware may have to be removed after the ligaments have healed.”
What can history teach us about recovery from Lisfranc injuries?
“There are no large studies of Lisfranc injuries in the NBA, although other sports have been looked at more closely.
“McHale and colleagues published a report in The American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2016 on 28 NFL players with Lisfranc injuries. 26 of the 28 players returned to competition at an average of 11 months and had no difference in athletic performance compared to pre-injury levels.
“Deol and colleagues published a report in 2015 in the same journal, on 17 professional soccer and rugby players in the English Premier and Championship Leagues. 16 of the 17 players returned to full competition had an average of 25 weeks. The athletes with purely ligamentous injuries did return about one month earlier than those with fractures.”
Will Chet Holmgren return to his pre-injury form?
“Based on the results in other sports and the few NBA players who have recovered from this injury, including Udonis Haslem in 2010, Holmgren would be expected to return to a high level at some point, but it could be a year or more before we see him suited up for game action.
“As the Thunder will undoubtedly be conservative with his recovery, we can hope to see him back sometime in the early part of next season.”
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