Knicks News: Jalen Brunson Expected To Return vs Mavs!| NY Sports Surgeon Reacts

Knicks News: Jalen Brunson Expected To Return vs Mavs!| NY Sports Surgeon Reacts

We welcome him in. And joining us today, man, he he is an orthopedic surgeon, worldrenowned, the chair and the associate program director at Northwell Health specializing in foot and ankle injuries. And joining us today, as I said, man, diehard Knicks fan in his spare time, Dr. Adam Berman. Dr. Berman, how you doing, man? Welcome to Nick Van TV, man. I’m well. Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it. Thanks for being Yeah, absolutely, man. We we were just uh commiserating here about a tough loss. I hate losing to the Miami Heat, man. I don’t know how you feel about it, but you know, 115113, man. It’s kind of disappointing tonight, man. New York South certainly not a place you want to lose, but the positive was the highlight of Jaylen Brunson uh playing and practicing on the court. He looked great. Yeah. So, promising for perhaps a return on Wednesday. Yeah. A return on Wednesday. Wow. Yeah. So, so what what did you think when you first heard green one ankle sprain? Just just given your your expertise and your experience, of course. So, the ligaments are like a seat belt on the ankle. It’s something that holds bone to bone. Uh and there are multiple on the lower ankle and some on the high ankle. And they’re different animals. The the sprain that Jaylen Brunson sustained is a grade one. So, it’s a mild tear, but it is a partial tear nonetheless. one that needs to be taken seriously and the medical staff is doing exactly that. The main things that they’re focusing on right now is swelling, pain control, and his ability to have confidence and return back to the court. in a position like him as a guard and someone who’s running the offense, he needs to be able to pivot, pop a three, pass, drive to the hoop, uh, and maneuver the ball with confidence without having to worry about pain or instability with all of his footwork that he uh, relies on. And so, it’s a step-by-step process uh, with a grade one taking anywhere from 1 to two weeks uh, to reassess and potentially return. Now, I don’t want to make any false promises, but the way he looked today uh tells me that the staff is is positive and has a good outlook overall. He’ll have a major say in how he feels in regards to his return. So, what are some of the signs that you saw from like today’s shoot around that gave you that gives you the inclination he could return on Wednesday? He was having some good lateral movement. Uh a couple dribbles, a couple dribbles uh to either side uh push off and popping some some good shots. uh he looked stable overall, but again a practice is not uh like the game pressure. So it takes a little bit more time and I’m sure they’ll work on that today or tonight rather tomorrow uh and then leading into the game on Wednesday. Now it appears that this was the same ankle that he had injured against the Lakers last year and this that one was way worse. Is there, you know, from your experience just having a previous or an existing ankle sprain like he did last year, are you concerned about any carryover? Like is that area a bit more unstable or a bit more susceptible to continued sprains even at this point in the season? 100%. You’re spot on, CP. So certainly one sprain can lead to additional sprains going forward. Again, that seat belt, uh, we want it to scar down and return to its normal state. Usually, it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Also, with a strict rehab protocol, you want to get the surrounding soft tissues, the surrounding muscles and tendons to be able to support him uh, should the ankle teeter and tilt over. Again, the the first quarter and the first half for that matter was extremely physical. A lot of bumping, a lot of pushing. Think about every rebound. you have multiple athletes going up, players going up, they come down, they land. You take it for granted until someone rolls the way that he had that inversion roll, that rolling in. Uh it can happen again when you least expect it. It can happen and sometimes they’re unavoidable. Um if he’s not strong enough for a return or doesn’t have that confidence, he would be susceptible for a bigger injury. Absolutely. Al, anything? Nope. Nope. Keep going. When you when you look at, you know, the the the conversation around these injuries, Hallebertton goes down with Achilles, you know, Tatum Achilles and Dame Achilles and, you know, these ankle injuries. Everybody has their their theory. Is it the shoes? Right. Jaylen rocks the the Kobes. A lot of guys wearing the low top shoes. Is it the the mileage starting from the AAOU level and they’re they’re constantly going and going? The pace of the game? What do you think about when you hear all all the theories in terms of why these player injuries seem to be I mean ankle injuries have been going on since the beginning of time, right? But like especially like the Achilles and things of that nature, what do you think about when you hear um some of those theories? I used to think it was the playing surface. Uh but I don’t think that’s the case much anymore. I mean, we’re seeing it on hardwood. We’re seeing it on uh grass. We’re seeing it on turf. Um so it’s happening in all different um arenas, so to speak. The shoe is another thought. Um, I was having this conversation recently where uh, players were using the high top. Now it seems like most players are using the low top. So, I don’t think it’s the shoe. These athletes are enormous human beings and they’re putting a tremendous amount of force on soft tissue day in and day out. And could it be a load issue? Potentially. Uh, but as you said, CP players are starting at a younger age. they’re playing with more intensity at a younger age and that is one of many many theories but it has been raining Achilles tendons uh both in the professional level amateur level and even at the collegiate level to a scary level. Wow. So go ahead now. Go ahead. No. So my question to follow up is that you know some of the things that people bring up as another theory is that the style of play for basketball now has really like increased like the Achilles and ankle injuries in the league. Do you think that is a factor as well? It’s possible. Uh all of the maneuvers that tore Achilles tendons most recently were like a dribble drive or or takeoff. And that spontaneous pushoff maneuver uh is similar to the NFL lineman. Uh when they’re backing up, they’re planting their their calf, they’re planting their their ankle rather, leading to a lengthening of that muscle belly. Uh it’s called an eccentric contraction, but ultimately that tendon is lengthening and then poof. uh it snaps and that’s when you can see that obvious reverberation up the calf. How about um I I know foot and ankle is is your primary specialty. You know OG anobi that’s more soft tissue with the hamstring. Any any thoughts on his injury? Same thing. Could be just I don’t want to say overuse, but usually that’s what these are an overuse injury. Um they’re just moving at pace at at a pace that we can’t comprehend. We watch from the stands. We enjoy it as uh and we’re we’re amazed at what they can do, but day in and day out it is a large burden on the human body. Uh Mitchell Robinson, another person who he’s coming off of ankle surgery. They have him on a load management and a minutes restriction, no backtobacks, they started the year off, skipping games. What have you made of uh how they’re treating the the Mitch situation? Well, again, he’s a big man and pounding uh down low certainly puts an extra amount of stress. Uh again, when you compare his position to a guard like Jaylen Brunson, uh he’s got to stand his ground. He’s doing a lot of push off. Jaylen is is doing a lot of speed and agility. Uh going in one direction, juking, so to speak, popping a three here or there. I just think it’s the their size. I think it’s their soft tissues. I I don’t necessarily think it’s their conditioning. I mean, they’re they’re functioning at a level that is just unreal. Uh, but we continue to look at it and trying to figure out more solutions to prevent this from happening. Do you think Go ahead. I was going to say, do you think for like a for like athletes like Mitch or anyone uh like who’s dealt with a lot of injuries, even like OG, do you think that the minutes restriction, do you think that like the uh what is it like the load management, do you think that will help them with longevity or do you think because there’s been like a whole debate on whether or whether or not it works? I don’t know. I got to admit, I’m also a fan and I imagine I imagine people who pay and they don’t see their their favorite player on the court, on the field, on the turf, whatever, certainly would be upset. Uh, as the medical guy, it hurts to keep someone out of their competition, of their game. So, it’s a balance. Uh, some fans understand it, some fans don’t. Uh, don’t come at me for that, but uh, that’s the fact. Uh but there’s no science per se of load management actually preventing these injuries. Yeah, that you know I mean look that that’s that’s the league stance and you know we could always make that argument whether or not uh you know we should be taking their word for it but I I think just it’s it’s hard to u you know make that direct correlation but you know it’s um it’s a high stakes game and as you said it’s a it’s a fast-paced physical game so we’ll just have to wait and see but from you but from your perspective we we have good news on the way for Captain Clutch Salem Brunson He could be returning maybe in a week or maybe less. Yeah, he looked good. I mean, again, practice is not what we saw today. It’s not the same as game level competition. There wasn’t any pushing and shoving. There wasn’t any ground and pound. He wasn’t making major moves to the hoop, but being out there dressed with sneakers on, socks, it looked like he had a little extra padding. Maybe his ankle was wrapped, which would make sense. U and so it’s a step-wise progression. and he’s certainly heading in that right direction. You know, fans started to panic when when the initial reaction was that he left MSC in a walking boot and a and a and a and crutches. Is that seems like more precautionary just to keep the swelling down? Totally normal. Totally normal. The crutches and the the boot is purely for symptom relief, pain relief. Uh he was probably icing the heck out of his ankle once he got back. um even today I’m sure after his activities he’s doing uh certain modalities to limit the swelling, limit the soft tissue inflammation and irritation and ultimately helping him with his pain. There you go, man. Now, I was quick to learn that your next door neighbor is one of our guys on on Nick’s Twitter, man. So, so with six degrees of separation, it was only a matter of time before he came here tonight. That’s right. He was going to come into the studio today. I don’t know if he’s watching, but I had to keep him away. I had to keep him at bay. that there. There we go, man. Shout out to him. Uh, what what’s your Knicks fan origin story like, man? How how did you become a big fan of the Knicks, man? It it happened actually with my son, my 10-year-old, who’s a big fan. Nice. He’s actually watching the show in the uh the room next door before bedtime. It’s getting a little late for him. There we go. I was always a fan. Grew up on Long Island and and he’s becoming an increasing fan. So, uh it’s super exciting. uh we come to the garden quite a bit and uh we’ll see where they go. That that’s great, man. Well, listen, man. We we definitely appreciate the time. We know it’s late. We know it’s late for you as well. A lot of hard and important work that that you do there for the community, but um hopefully this is not the last and and hopefully we can we can bring you back and talk Knicks to, you know, talk injury report. Hopefully not too many. Last year we didn’t have much to talk about, but this year it’s early, man. You know, you got Mitch Brunson, OG, there’s a lot at stake. There’s a lot at play. Again, uh it’s early. You’re absolutely right. They know how to manage this. Uh they’ll get through it. Uh both OG and Jaylen will be back. Hopefully Jaylen comes back this week. If not, early next week. There we go. Dr. Bamman, thanks again for the time, man. We’ll see you next time, man. I appreciate you guys having me. Thanks so much.

Our latest episode features an insightful discussion with Dr. Adam Bitterman, a renowned orthopaedic surgeon and passionate Knicks fan, as we break down Jalen Brunson’s ankle injury and imminent return. Tune in to this special nba podcast for expert analysis and fan reactions, along with the latest nba news from a sports medicine perspective!

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