Legacy of Microfracture Surgery in the NBA

[Nostalgic]

I remember Jamal Mashburn saying he lost a lot of explosion after he got the surgery done

 

[hashmander]

seems like that won't produce better outcomes for the older athletes with articular cartilage defect that microfracture didn't work for. it's just a bad situation and hearing those words has to be the most depressing in sports.

did some googling. microfracture is still done, just not as a first option anymore.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/07/07/a-career-threatening-injury-the-rise-and-fall-of-microfracture-in-the-nba/

Instead of marrow stimulation like microfracture, doctors are turning to OAT surgery more often. Another option that is becoming increasingly popular involves cell-based techniques, with doctors growing cartilage cells in a lab and delivering it back into the patient.

Microfracture is still used as a part of knee surgeries, depending on the type of the lesion, but it is no longer the go-to surgery for addressing damaged cartilage.

“It’s not that microfracture doesn’t have a role,” Dr. Asheesh Bedi, a consultant for the National Basketball Players Association, said in a phone interview. “But there is an increasing consideration and trend to utilizing some other techniques as the first-line operation. It used to be these other techniques were (used to salvage) a failed microfracture. Now we recognize it may be best to go to these other techniques first.”

 

[aceboon]

wild shyt is John Stockton getting it during the 97 season and only missing a couple of months

 

[Dem313wayz]

CWebb was done after that surgery. He was stuck to the floor

 

[Absolut da poet ®]

what replaced it? talking about it like it was some hack surgery when in reality the condition that caused the need for surgery is a difficult one to treat. what are the advances in surgery that are producing better outcomes for athletes in similar situations?

I thought I read somewhere that there are experiments with some type of injectable jelly or something

 

[aceboon]

is there actually a replacement? if Kemba was around during the microfracture era he probably would have got it due to the state of his knee but it seemed like he just dealt with it as long as he could until his career phased out. Lonzo got that experimental cartilage transplant surgery but we still have no idea if that shyt will actually work.

 

[DPresidential]

This is a very triggering thread for die hard fans who over think about "what ifs."

I'm one of those fans. Damn.

 

[WesCrook]

wild shyt is John Stockton getting it during the 97 season and only missing a couple of months

He was reliant on athletic ability

 

[aceboon]

He was reliant on athletic ability

stepping onto an NBA court and playing 2 months after microfracture is still insane regardless of his playing style

 

[RubioTheCruel]

is there actually a replacement? if Kemba was around during the microfracture era he probably would have got it due to the state of his knee but it seemed like he just dealt with it as long as he could until his career phased out. Lonzo got that experimental cartilage transplant surgery but we still have no idea if that shyt will actually work.

I think that's why they stopped doing microfracture, the cartilage it created wasn't the 'right' kind of cartilage so it sorta didn't serve a purpose

 

[who_better_than_me]

Mashburn was filthy, especially once he got to Charlotte. I seen dude score 22 straight points in a playoff game against Milwaukee with shots that would Be consider low quality by todays standards.

Mashburn was probably The last athlete I can remember who would take that fade away midrange on the baseline besides Kobe. That was my favorite shot. Melo took it sometimes but not often.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Jason Kidd is another guy who had microfracture surgery in 2004. He made a few more All-Star teams but his numbers kept declining after having the surgery.

It was always hold your breath time whenever a guy got this surgery. Amar'e is the only guy who seemed relatively unaffected afterwards. Just about everyone else immediately lost their athleticism after the procedure.

K Mart had it on both knees…. Played 8 more years…. His athleticism took a hit after the first one…. People don’t remember how explosive he was at Cincinnati

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

Mashburn was filthy, especially once he got to Charlotte. I seen dude score 22 straight points in a playoff game against Milwaukee with shots that would Be consider low quality by todays standards.

Mashburn was probably The last athlete I can remember who would take that fade away midrange on the baseline besides Kobe. That was my favorite shot. Melo took it sometimes but not often.

Baseline midranges are hard asf

 

[beejus]

Was told I needed microfracture surgery back in the early 2000's. Years of soccer and some basketball was the cause. Skipped the surgery though as I had heard it was quite painful and I wasn't pursuing a career playing sports. Now I'm 40 years old and my knees struggle. Hard for me to squat down and getting up off the floor can be painful. I have wondered what would they feel like if I had gotten. Just got back into playing indoor soccer and I feel some discomfort and the knees have no explosiveness, but that also could be my age and not related to needing surgery. I just use CBD before playing and I'm able to get around.

 

[who_better_than_me]

Baseline midranges are hard asf

They are but the baseline fadeaway is the most aesthetic shot in basketball, imo.