Keegan Murray is one of many Kings players sidelined with an injury after spraining his left ankle in last week’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
But with less than 20 games remaining in the regular season and Sacramento in dead last in the NBA standings, would it be wise for the Kings to play it cautious and sit Murray for the remainder of the season to avoid further injury?
Stanford Medicine’s Dr. David E. Oji, M.D., spoke to NBC Sports California and compared the benefits of Murray either returning or sitting this season.
“I think you can make an argument for both,” Dr. Oji said. “From a medical perspective, as long as he’s healthy and doing the things that are required, I mean, theoretically, yeah, he can get back to playing. You alluded to this earlier about reinjury, and it is important that he does get to 100 percent. If you leave anything for chance, he can reinjure it. And over time, the more you injure it, the more you sprain it and the more loose it gets.
“So it’s probably better to be really thorough this time around so we don’t have to have this issue in the future.”
The 25-year-old sustained the injury when he was trying to contest Rockets center Clint Capela and meet him at the rim, but rolled his ankle on the way down.
The Kings announced last week that Murray suffered a mild left ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated on March 13. Murray injured the same ankle in early January, which the team labeled a “moderate” sprain and led Murray to miss 20 games.
Murray eventually returned on Feb. 19, but he played just four games before reinjuring the same ankle.
In those four games, Murray struggled to shoot the ball efficiently. He shot just 15 of 41 (36.6 percent) from the field and 6 of 20 (30 percent) from 3-point range, and he was a minus-9 in plus/minus rating through 27.8 minutes.
Dr. Oji explained how lifting and landing could have potentially aggravated Murray’s ankle and affected his shot.
“It’s always hard to say without examining him and seeing how he’s doing and how he’s improving,” Dr. Oji said. “In patients and athletes who are in similar situations, if they’re kind of 80, 90 percent there but still trying to push it and get back, it can be a struggle. A lot of it is also psychological. He may be symptomatically doing very well, but many athletes have anxiety about returning and maybe stepping on another player’s foot and twisting it. So that can also factor in.”
Murray has missed 40 of the Kings’ 63 contests this season. And with the current timetable as we await another update from the Kings, he is set to miss at least four more games as Sacramento braces for the final stretch of the season.
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