Jimmy Butler #NBA Right knee injury Possibilities include: 1. MCL sprain 2. Medial Meniscus injury 3. Both Shams is commenting that his MCL may be injured, but let’s see what the MRI shows. Butler had his knee landed on by a Sixers player (see photo), and the angle of Butler’s leg/knee plus the weight of the opposing player likely stressed the inside of Butler’s leg. The MCL is the ligament that runs north to south on the inside of the knee, protecting the knee from collapsing inward. The deep part of the MCL fibers actually attached to the medial meniscus. Traditionally, the proximal aspect of the MCL has a poor blood supply, and that’s usually where it sprains most commonly. The MCL is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee, and sprains on average take over 20 days to return to play in the NBA, depending on the severity. There are three grades of severity of MCL sprains. Grade 1 is a mild sprain, and would likely keep him out about 10-14 days. Grade 2 is a moderate sprain, because the meniscus is involved, and these usually take closer to 4-6 weeks. Grade 3 is a severe sprain and usually the player has trouble walking and the knee is so unstable that surgery is mandatory. The issue with the MCL is that if you return too quickly from an injury to one, you will put the entire integrity of both the ACL and the meniscus at risk. The MCL is a protective mechanism of these two. Having Butler return too quickly is very risky as a result. Regardless of when he returns, I expect him to wear a knee sleeve, possibly with a metal reinforcement on the inside. Surgically there’s nothing that Butler could do to get him to return within the next week. Even Cell therapy (‘stem cells’) or PRP would struggle to improve the tissue fast enough to allow him to play safely. Timing is less than ideal as there is a chance he could miss the entire first round of the NBA playoffs. Best case scenario, the MRI shows that the MCL is only a grade one minor sprain, and there is no injury to the meniscus or the ACL. This may allow him to return sometime in the first round of the playoffs, but his minutes would likely be limited and he would be severely impacted by the injury. If you found this helpful, consider following me for more injury and medicine related content.
@DrJesseMorse is it safe to say he’s definitely not playing on friday then?
@DrJesseMorse Is there a way you can provide an update after the info that came out this afternoon?
@DrJesseMorse Since he played the entire game even though he was hobbling, what grade do you think he could be facing? He played 40 minutes yesterday so could that have injured his MCL more?
@DrJesseMorse Thank you!! I was waiting on you to make a part about Jimmy. Thank you for delivering!
@DrJesseMorse How was he able to still play like he was 100%
@DrJesseMorse what would you say the odds are of him returning healed if they make it to first round? Thanks
@DrJesseMorse Thank you so much Doctor for the explanation 🙇🏻 the expression on Jimmy’s face and the way he was holding on to his knee immediately after he got hurt was reminiscent of the way he tore his meniscus back in 2018 😭 I hope it’s not as bad 🙏🏻