By: Tanraj Tiwana
Last month on the 20th of March, LeBron James suffered an injury that has him sitting on the sidelines for about three to five weeks.
James suffered a “high ankle sprain” a few weeks back. This is quite different from a regular “ankle sprain”. These two injuries both are results of the stretching or tearing of ligaments (tissue that holds bones together) in and around the ankle. As the name suggests, a high ankle sprain involves the stretching of the ligaments above those in a regular ankle sprain. In a regular ankle sprain the anterior talofibular ligament (a ligament on the outside of the foot) is stretched or torn. This is one of the most common ankle sprains. A high ankle sprain affects the tendons that hold the two large bones in the bottom of your leg, the tibia and fibula, together at the bottom. High ankle sprains often occur when one is running and changes directions quickly. This type of injury happens when the foot is turned in an awkward way, resulting in the tibia and fibula to separate, and therefore stretching the anterior tibiofibular ligament. This is exactly what happened to James. It is not yet clear when James will return to the court, however it is estimated that he will be back around April 16th to April 30th.
Kobe Bryant also suffered a similar injury back in early April of 2013 when he tore his achilles tendon (a tendon is tissue that holds muscle on to bone).
Near the end of a tight game Bryant decided to push towards the baseline very quickly to tie the game. As he extended his left leg forward at a sharp angle, Bryant's left achilles tendon snapped. The achilles tendon is the longest tendon in the body, it runs from the back of your heel all the way up to the back of your calf. This tendon is key in the ability of moving your foot up and down. These often occur with a sudden increase in speed or an overstretch of the tendon. He immediately felt symptoms like a loud popping sound when the tendon tore and the feeling of being kicked in the back of the leg. This is the simple injury that took Bryant off of the court for more than eight months, and would affect him for the rest of his career.
References:
“Achilles Tendon Rupture.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 31 July 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/achilles-tendon-rupture/symptoms-causes/syc-20353234.
“High Ankle Sprain vs. Ankle Sprain: What's the Difference?” Hospital for Special Surgery, www.hss.edu/conditions_high-ankle-sprain-whats-different.asp#high.
Medina, Mark. “Report: Lakers' LeBron James Could Miss Three to Five More Weeks with Ankle Injury.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 25 Mar. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2021/03/25/lebron-james-injury-update-los-angeles-lakers/7003734002/.
Murphy, David. “Timeline of Kobe Bryant's Return from Devastating Achilles Injury.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/1856278-timeline-of-kobe-bryants-return-from-devastating-achilles-injury.
“Sprained Ankle.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 28 July 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sprained-ankle/symptoms-causes/syc-20353225#:~:text=Overview,stabilize%20joints%2C%20preventing%20excessive%20movement.
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