Getty OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks reacts after scoring during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden.
New York Knicks two-way wing OG Anunoby sounded optimistic in his first public appearance since undergoing successful surgery to remove a loose bone fragment from his right elbow which the team announced on February 8.
Anunoby has yet to join the Knicks’ practices with his re-evaluation still more than a week away. But he guaranteed his return before the playoffs.
“Yeah, for sure [I’ll be back before the playoffs], hopefully,” Anunoby told reporters via SNY on February 20. “Just following the doctors’ orders, following the medical staff, just progressing day by day. I’m feeling better and better every day. So, yeah. I want to be back as soon as possible.”
Without Anunoby, the Knicks limped to a 4-5 record, losing their last 4 going to the NBA All-Star break exacerbated by more injuries to several of their rotation players.
‘Go on Another Run’
Before that, the Knicks roared to a 12-2 record since acquiring Anunoby from Toronto via trade. The All-Defensive forward is excited to get back and continue what they started.
“I’m definitely excited to get back. I think the whole team is excited to play together again and go on another run,” Anunoby said via SNY.
Anunoby couldn’t exactly pinpoint when his elbow started bothering him. But he was certain it wasn’t when he was still playing with the Raptors.
“No, earlier in my career, no,” Anunoby said via New York Post. “Elbow was sore, but I didn’t think anything of it. I never thought anything of it, and then it just started swelling up, my elbow. I don’t know exactly what happened or what led to it feeling like it did in Charlotte.”
He added they tried different options, including resting his elbow, but ultimately, he and the Knicks agreed surgery was the best option.
Sports Injury Expert Dives Into OG Anunoby’s Injury
According to sports injury expert and certified athletic trainer Jeff Stotts, who operates the website instreetclothes.com, Anunoby’s injury is more common in baseball than in basketball.
However, Stotts explained that “the repetitive motion of shooting a basketball can lead to the development of osteophyte(s) in the joint,” which could explain how Anunoby, one of the league’s best catch-and-shoot players, developed the bone spur.
“A bone spur, or osteophyte, is often the result of a repetitive motion that places an undue stress somewhere on the body. The constant friction can irritate a bone in the area and, over time, additional bone tissue is created to combat and manage the stress. The newly formed osteophyte then acts similarly to a doorstop, limiting range of motion and irritating the neighboring soft tissue structures like nerves, ligaments, or muscles,” Stotts wrote.
In Stotts’ injury database, the longest absence for an NBA player who opted for in-season surgery for the same type of elbow injury was 23 games.
Interestingly, a former Knicks player — Bill Walker — held that record.
Walker missed 53 days after he was initially diagnosed to miss 4 to 6 weeks in 2012.
The shortest in-season surgery for such injury in Stotts’ database was Joe Johnson, who came back after only 19 days during his fifth All-Star season with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2010-11 season.