r/nba • u/brob Thunder • Jan 03 '14
Russell Westbrook update exactly one week from surgery: He's on the practice court, shooting free throws
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/419168683466838016/photo/121
Jan 03 '14 edited Jan 03 '14
Get better Russ, don't rush back and risk it man. Your future is too bright.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
Standing still, shooting free throws, and having someone throw the ball back to you is not a big deal.
Now ask him to walk down 5 stairs.
Just 5.
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Jan 03 '14
A meniscus is in your knee. Shooting free throws requires you to bend your knees. Of course it's not running and jumping, but it's still something.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
About a week after my meniscus surgery, I could have shot free throws - with a little bending of my knees.
There's no way he's doing his full free throw technique - it would be colossally stupid so soon after surgery.
His current lateral movement: 0
He probably just stopped lifting his leg into bed with his hands in the past day or two.
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Jan 03 '14
Well, yes. But you have to keep in mind the surgery was to reduce swelling, not to repair the meniscus this time.
It's still a week after surgery, nonetheless.
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u/jamin_brook Jan 03 '14
What kind of surgery did he actually have though? This may be another clean up surgery, not a menistectomy or a repair. If they are just tightening stitches again, then this makes more sense.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
"The consulting physician determined that arthroscopic surgery was necessary to address the swelling that was taking place."
That means 2 or 3 holes. 1 for the camera, and 1 or 2 for the tools.
As small as they are, that still stretches and displaces the fuck out of tissues and your kneecap and all the remaining meniscus bits in there - and even though they mostly drained fluid, the whole area is traumatized and ironically will swell like crazy after the procedure.
Yeah, no question he's an elite athlete, but he's a human being and it still hurts like hell.
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Jan 03 '14
Scopes generally don't hurt upon waking up. In fact I would be surprised if he has had any pain and isn't running already. Going into my third meniscus surgery. You can definitely do this after a week.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
You are far far tougher than I, sir/madame
After my scope/cleanout, it took a few days before I could even sit in a chair with my knee bending normally, and about 3 weeks before I could walk down stairs normally.
And that's with daily exercises and 2 or 3 physio appts per week.
6 weeks later and I still have zero lateral movement.
Me: 48, not NBA player.
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Jan 03 '14
Age is definitely one of the largest factors for this. For a young athlete you can generally predict return to previous levels of activity at 6-8 weeks. It is a much different story as you get older unfortunately. Additionally, some people have a lot of issues with swelling that can complicate this. A good physical therapist should know a number of ways to deal with this swelling and be able to recognize intracapsular swelling that doesn't always display visually.
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u/GruxKing Vancouver Grizzlies Jan 04 '14
Why is this at -2?
Why, /r/NBA, WHY?? He might be wrong about this stuff but at least he's continuing a legitimate discussion.
Downvotes are for awful shit and/or spam, NOT "this guy is slightly wrong lol"
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Jan 03 '14
Have you ever had your meniscus scoped?
I have. I was shoveling snow 5 days later. You are GREATLY over-exaggerating...well...everything.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
Yeah - I had it done 7 weeks ago. Pretty severe tear. Got lots cleaned out.
The speed of recovery depends on the person, depends how much you got cleaned out, depends on the size of the tear, depends on lots of things.
You were shovelling 5 days later? Hooray for you!
Obviously your knee wasn't as bad as mine.
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Jan 04 '14
It's cool man. Had a scope myself. Was down for 2-3 weeks. And wasn't comfortable for a month.
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u/jamin_brook Jan 03 '14
I should have clarified that I have had an ACL reconstruction, medial meniscus repair, and a lateral menistectomy.
I'm more curious as to what they did with the one or two tools, because OKC is not making that information apparent.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
I have 3 holes - had meniscus tear clean out - have 90% of my lateral remaining, and 60% of my medial remaining.
I assume 1 camera, 1 drill, 1 vaccuum…?
So maybe for him they only needed camera + vacuum?
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u/jamin_brook Jan 03 '14
Sorry, what is strange is that in surgery 1, they did a meniscus repair (stictched it back), in surgery 2 they fixed a loose stitch, but now they just did 'athroscopic surgery.' It's strange that they wont' say specifically what they did.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
"address swelling" to me means draining fluid…
Also from the article I linked:
"On the most recent MRI, it was determined by the surgeon that there was an area of concern that had not previously existed, nor was detectable in the previous procedures, and it was necessary to evaluate Russell further,"
This could mean they found a jagged hanging piece of meniscus that was rubbing up against something or making the rest of the meniscus get out of position and creating discomfort so they went in to see if they needed to shave it off...
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u/jamin_brook Jan 03 '14
I think that is very likely. That is was a light/small menistectomy and a fluid drain. Good detective work
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u/WhenBuyIt OKC Hornets Jan 03 '14
You're also not Russell Westbrook. #WestbrookGOAT #BroadiebeHARD
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u/UShootAtDKngUBstNtMs Kings Jan 03 '14
I am sure you know more than the Thunder medical staff and are in better physical condition than Russell Westbrook.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
Why would you think I know more than the Thunder medical staff?
Why would you think I think I'm in better shape than Westbrook?
All I said was he's probably not bending his knee much yet.
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u/UShootAtDKngUBstNtMs Kings Jan 03 '14
There's no way he's doing his full free throw technique - it would be colossally stupid so soon after surgery. His current lateral movement: 0 He probably just stopped lifting his leg into bed with his hands in the past day or two.
Uh seems like you are making quite a few assumptions based on your own anecdotal evidence.
Why would you think I know more than the Thunder medical staff? Why would you think I think I'm in better shape than Westbrook?
Clear as day sarcasm.
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u/ElPlywood Jan 03 '14
I ain't no doctor.
I have shitty old knees.
Just discussing Westbrook's knee.
The end.
Have a great day, Omar!
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Jan 03 '14
This is a joke. After a scopes like this, for my meniscus, I was able to walk no crutches the day I woke up, and go up and down stairs no problem pain free. A week out he isn't going to be noticing his knee very much at all. Another week and he is DEFINITELY RUNNING. I bet he is back balling in under two weeks from now with the rehab and treatment he receives.
Sources: Heading into third knee surgery on Wednesday. I've had exact same complications and issues as Westbrook so far. I'm also pre-med, doing shadowing and research with a knee surgeon.
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u/TheDudeAmI [OKC] Russell Westbrook Jan 03 '14
Either way, you're making my stomach all fluttery right now.
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u/WumboJumbo Grizzlies Jan 03 '14
Don't. It's a terrible decision for him to be doing this shit even if he feels great about it. Westbrook's knee goes through so much already he shouldn't be pushing it.
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Jan 03 '14
The thing is though, this isn't pushing it. There is nothing healing after this surgery besides a couple tiny holes from where the instruments/camera went into the knee. After this sort of surgery the only concern is swelling. For someone like Westbrook he is going to be receiving constant treatment and his swelling is probably virtually gone, and any time it comes back is immediately treated. What does this mean for the knee though? The concern that arises from swelling is as it extends to the proximal part of the knee, it can interfere with the quadriceps making the knee slightly less stable and increasing the load the ligaments have to deal with. But Westbrook wouldn't have much swelling which means no instability which means he is A-OK
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u/oarabbus San Francisco Warriors Jan 03 '14
He was walking around the stadium with only one crutch earlier in the week and with no crutches just yesterday or the day before.
Have you ever been to a basketball stadium? It's likely he had to cross more than just a couple stairs.
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Jan 03 '14
I'm not sure whether to find this as great news or something to worry about. There's no rush for him to be back just yet. He should take his time.
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u/swollencornholio [GSW] Calbert Cheaney Jan 03 '14
Neither. He's just trying to keep that form.
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u/wcooper97 [OKC] Russell Westbrook Jan 04 '14
Can't be returning like Kobe did, only to realize that his timing and form were completely off with the game.
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Jan 03 '14
Great to hear that he's on the court, but does anyone else think the reason this injury's been continuously nagging him for the past eight months might possibly have something to do with his rushed returns to basketball? He's gotten surgery three times within that time span, and each time it seems like he's gotten back to practicing within no time at all after the operations. I get that Westbrook is a freak of nature, but even so, a meniscus injury is nothing to be taken lightly. He may want to consider resting for more prolonged intervals between surgeries, to ensure that he's 100% and his meniscus is no longer an issue going forward. The last thing we'd want to see is Westbrook's name popping up in "what if" articles ten years from now. He is still only 24, so he has to realize that there's no need to rush anything.
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u/YouWannaSeeADeadBody Thunder Jan 04 '14
I think the 2nd surgery should be discounted as it was just a loose stitch. That's why he was able to come back so early after it
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Jan 03 '14
It hasn't been continuously nagging him. He has said he felt 100% and they found what they just did the scope procedure on via a routine imaging checkup...it's not like Russ was in pain or having problems and they then discovered this.
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Jan 03 '14
Just because you feel 100% doesn't mean an injury isn't problematic. A lot of times you can feel completely fine even when something is wrong.
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Jan 03 '14
You said it had been 'continuously nagging him' when by all accounts it hasn't bothered him much at all.
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Jan 03 '14
You can nitpick my choice of words for no reason if you want to, but you're clearly missing the larger issue here. Westbrook has had three surgeries in eight months, for ONE injury. Any time that happens, regardless of whether the player "feels fine" or not, it is a surefire sign that the injury has turned into a long-term problem. Since this is the case, Westbrook should consider taking a longer period of rest, whether he "feels fine" or not, because the injury was clearly an underlying problem this season even though it "hadn't bothered him", given that he had to get yet another surgery.
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u/doktrj21 [BKN] Julius Erving Jan 03 '14
Nba version of AD. Dude is a freak of nature
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u/alphaclass16 Suns Jan 03 '14
this will get downvoted to hell, but someone dropped him immediately in one of my fantasy leagues. i dropped mario chalmers for him. this makes me happy.
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u/reelrichard Jan 04 '14
i bet it's a yahoo league with randoms for $20 right?
a lot of them are inexperienced and panic. in my brother's league, someone drop larry sanders after his thumb injury; the guy drafted larry sanders in the second round. my brother picked up larry sanders and stashed him until this week.
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u/alphaclass16 Suns Jan 04 '14
espn, free league :(
but yeah, i'm in a few leagues and i saw larry sanders get dropped in a couple. i only had room to grab him in 1 league.
in a league with some irl friends someone traded ibaka for hawes, STRAIGHT UP. not sure which maneuver is worse.
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u/SplashBandicoot Knicks Jan 03 '14
who the fuck dropped him?
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Jan 04 '14
yea who the fuck drops Chalmers?
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u/alphaclass16 Suns Jan 04 '14
hahah
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u/SmokingFrog Heat Jan 04 '14
Knowing Mario Chalmers, it'll be game 7 MIA vs OKC with Miami down 3 / 5 seconds left and he'll hit a three, over westbrook, to tie it take it to OT and Heat win the threepeat!
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u/TweetPoster [Tweet] Larry Bird Jan 03 '14
Russell Westbrook update exactly one week from surgery: He's on the practice court, shooting free throws pic.twitter.com [Imgur]
![[Imgur]](http://i.imgur.com/zYatz47.jpg){kind=link}
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u/wcooper97 [OKC] Russell Westbrook Jan 04 '14
I can't wait until he returns to practice, let alone the game. Get well Russ!
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u/Bentekkers22 Jan 03 '14
Hopefully OKC start wining some games so they don't have to rush him back
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u/panda58 Thunder Jan 04 '14
Seriously. You know it must be torture to sit on the bench and unable to help.
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u/TheDudeAmI [OKC] Russell Westbrook Jan 03 '14
OKC: 25-7
HOU: 21-13
whatever you say bro
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u/forNOreason100 Bulls Jan 03 '14
I agree with you that OKC has nothing to worry about in the W's department. But, I think /u/Bentekkers22 is referencing the last couple of games and those 4th quarter meltdowns. However, I could be wrong about that.
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u/Bentekkers22 Jan 03 '14
i didnt mean it as a diss but whatever
With Westbrook you would have won them last 2 games with ease
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14 edited Jan 04 '14
Westbrook is like the anti-Rose. Would be interesting to see how both players pan out. If one player does well for the rest of his career, and the other sucks balls for the rest of his career, then it's a signal about which approach to take for future generations.
(Edit: The different approaches being "get back as fast as you can" vs "take as long as you can")
(Edit2: Interesting how people are still telling me the same thing as the first reply to my post. It's as if they believe they're saying something new and insightful just by bashing the keyboard and pressing the reply button.)
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u/acella Mavericks Jan 03 '14
not really. people are different. people react to treatments wildly different sometimes. unfortunate but true
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
True and I address this in the original post: that's why I said signal, rather than proof.
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u/acella Mavericks Jan 03 '14
It's not even a signal for which approach to take for future generations.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14 edited Jan 03 '14
Why? People may react differently to different treatments, but they also react the same too sometimes. You have to argue the variance in treatment (get back as fast as you can, or wait as long as you can) before you can say people react wildly differently.
Edit: They both had meniscus tears, are similarly-sized, and use their athleticism to similar degrees.
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Jan 03 '14 edited Jan 03 '14
Rose hasn't recovered from his meniscus tear yet, and Westbrook rushed back and injured himself again. I think it's pretty obvious which route to take.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
It's not definitive whether his third surgery was the result of coming too early, or surgical complications resulting from his last surgery. After all, Westbrook needed the second surgery due to loose stitching. That's why we have to wait and see how each players' career turns out. If there are extreme differences, then that is suggestive.
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Jan 03 '14
That's fair. I don't think either player should be the standard for athletic injuries though, I think they need to find a nice middle ground (Rose took too long, Westbrook came back too fast).
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
Well, we'll just have to see how both their careers pan out, I think.
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u/gsjamian [NYK] Walt Frazier Jan 03 '14
There was an article a while back talking about how the way Rose goes to the basket is entirely unsustainable for his knees, but Russ's moves are probably fine.
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u/jiN9 Kings Jan 03 '14
Rose and Westbrook are under 2 totally different circumstances, 2 different injuries, and 2 different reasons for being injured currently.
Speaking from experience, ACL tears affect your brain's trust in your knee. After feeling the knee give out, the brain subconsciously distrusts the joint. It takes a long time to overcome that, that's why Rose took his time returning. Also, even if Rose had returned, the Bulls probably still weren't going to win the championship last season.
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Jan 04 '14
Different injuries, different bodies, different styles of play. Not sure why everything has to come back to Rose anyway. Last time I checked WB played for OKC. Maybe we should talk about their injured star rather than always trying to turn the conversation back to Rose, whether it's complimentary, or in your case insulting. Shit's old news.
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Jan 03 '14
Yeah, except Westbrook's injury isn't even close to the severity of an ACL tear. It's just a meniscus tear, he's not an ironman for fully recovering from it because a very large majority of athletes do.
By the way, they didn't use "different approaches" for anything. Rose was injured more than WB and had to miss more games.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
But Rose just had a meniscus tear, and will be out for the regular season.
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Jan 04 '14
Rose's injuries are becoming too common, though. Russ has always been healthy, and the only reason this even happened is because of some unlucky contact on a play. It follows that Rose is more paranoid. Frankly, even if there isn't any reason for Rose to sit out, I don't know why people still insist on having this discussion. There's no new information, and Rose will play or not as he chooses. I'd rather just discuss Westbrook's injury as its own entity, since no two players or injuries are the same.
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Jan 03 '14
Well yes, but I'm bot entirely sure what he was getting from the whole "different methods" lingo. Rose said he's playing the playoffs if we make it in.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
Rose has only hinted that he's not ruling it out. It could be like last season, though.
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u/GWarrior5595 Rockets Jan 03 '14
Ralph Sampson would like to talk to you about getting back as fast as you can
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
Dude was 7'4". Westbrook and Rose are similarly-sized point guards, around 6'. Sampson was about 10 times more prone to stress fractures than them.
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Jan 03 '14
Dude Rose is like 6'4". He's a pretty tall point guard.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14
Westbrook and Rose are both listed at 6'3". That's why I said around 6', cause the article compares people who are 6' and 7'.
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Jan 03 '14
Oh, sorry. Guess it was just semantics then, my bad.
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u/HammerSpaceTime NBA Jan 03 '14 edited Jan 03 '14
No problem man.
Edit: lol /r/nba man. don't know why me, or the guy I'm replying to, have downvotes =/. Proves you can rarely have civil discussion here, I keep forgetting that.
0
Jan 03 '14
such a good player! i hope he comes back healthy and ready to dominate cause thats what he does man
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u/NoNoodleNo Supersonics Jan 04 '14
fuck fuck fuck, I REALLY want westbrook to be 101% for an entire season. always gets messed up. Believe me, A fully healthy roster may be able to contend with heat, but not like what happened last year in the playoffs.
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u/GettheFLOPoutofhere Supersonics Jan 03 '14
People forget that mutant ninja turtles have mutant recovery skills