We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Athletic performance and career longevity following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in the National Basketball Association.
- Authors
Kester, Benjamin; Behery, Omar; Minhas, Shobhit; Hsu, Wellington; Kester, Benjamin S; Behery, Omar A; Minhas, Shobhit V; Hsu, Wellington K
- Abstract
<bold>Purpose: </bold>To identify the impact of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction on performance and career longevity for National Basketball Association (NBA) players.<bold>Methods: </bold>Seventy-nine players (80 knees) with acute ACL tears in the NBA between the 1984-2014 seasons, and 112 age, height, weight, and performance-matched controls were identified. Pre- and post-injury performance outcomes including seasons played, games played, games started, minutes per game, points per game, field goals, 3-point shots, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, personal fouls, usage percentage and player efficiency ratings were compared between cases and controls using independent samples t tests and Fisher's exact tests.<bold>Results: </bold>Sixty-eight of seventy-nine players (86.1 %) returned to play in the NBA following ACL reconstruction. Mean length of post-operative play was 1.84 years shorter than matched controls (P = 0.001). There was a significantly higher rate of attrition from professional basketball for players with a history of ACL reconstruction (P = 0.014). In the first full season following surgery, players started in 15.5 fewer games (P = 0.001), they played in 17.3 fewer games (P < 0.001), and had combined player efficiency ratings 2.35 points lower (P = 0.001) when compared to matched controls. Over the length of their careers, players competed in 22.2 fewer games per season (P = 0.009).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>There is a high rate of return to sport in the NBA following ACL reconstruction, although playing time, games played, player efficiency ratings and career lengths are significantly impacted in the post-operative period. These data should be used to manage patients' expectations regarding their abilities to return to elite levels of athletic performance.
- Subjects
ATHLETES; ANTERIOR cruciate ligament; NATIONAL Basketball Association; KNEE; SPORTS injuries
- Publication
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 2017, Vol 25, Issue 10, p3031
- ISSN
0942-2056
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s00167-016-4060-y