Is Basketball the Most Injury Prone Sport ?

[hottoys2012]

Is there any sport where the players are more injury prone, have a higher risk of injury, or that more actual injuries occur ? I feel that other sports, specifically football and baseball, play on grass / dirt, which seems a lot softer than a hard wooden floor. Also, NFL players wear lots of protection, padding, helmets, in NBA they wear none. Not to mention, the constant jumping and running back in forth in Basketball, hard falls on wooden floors. Every year I try to guess teams that will make it to playoffs, championship, etc. and it seems like every year multiple teams star player gets injured and ruins their chances. Thoughts ?

[drobfan8]

No way. These guys are not tough.

They pick up niggly muscle injuries mostly. Other sports (Football, Rugby League, Union, Aussie Rules) cop way worse but actually play through injury and concussion more often than not.

[rhigh2390]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

No way. These guys are not tough.

They pick up niggly muscle injuries mostly. Other sports (Football, Rugby League, Union, Aussie Rules) cop way worse but actually play through injury and concussion more often than not.

Agreed... NBA has the most primadonnas of any sport.

[Siblix181]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

No way. These guys are not tough.

They pick up niggly muscle injuries mostly. Other sports (Football, Rugby League, Union, Aussie Rules) cop way worse but actually play through injury and concussion more often than not.

maybe only a handful of nba players could take that god damn spear tackle that pedlar from Adelaide crows took last night in the showdown game. the dude finished the game as well like god damn!

[hermanotarjeta]

Football is 100% injury. It is the most dangerous.

The nba culture is to take games off because the regular season is too long for today’s players. So it appears like they are always “injured”.

Basketball is a no contact sport.

Football is a 100% contact sport.

[SupermanBrandon]

#1 Football
#2 Soccer

[hottoys2012]

In football they wear lots of protection, padding, helmets. NBA players wear no protection period and the floors are extremely hard .

[Karnage]

Don’t forget about Hockey….

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

They pick up niggly muscle injuries mostly.

I’ll take “Words you won’t hear American sports fans say” for 500, Alex.

[threepointplay]

Rugby Union. Basically, football with barely any protection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOFO_MzZi50

The top level went professional in the mid-1990s and the game has got noticeably faster as a result; leading to the tackling being pretty brutal. The risk of early onset dementia is now rife amongst the first pro players, as the frequency and power of the hits increased noticeably from its amateur days.

...and that is before you even start looking at the 'scrum'.

[discodanman45]

I think the NBA injuries are a combination of players being taller, taller players having to be more athletic, and the early age of NBA players. We have a lot of 20 year old near 7 footers that have weak bone density from growing at a rapid rate in their youth. It takes time for the bone structure to mature, but the NBA is pushing these kids before they are physically mature enough. Some players like Embiid can recover from these early fractures, but some players never do. If I drafted a 20 year old 7 footer in the NBA, I would proceed with extreme caution and even hesitation to let them play a full first season.

[coltsnsox07]

Basketball players are tough, you guys are wrong. If someone slaps your wrist 6 times in 48 minutes of bouncing a ball they get thrown out of the game.

[tjforce]

Football by many miles, and anyone who doesn't immediately realize this hasn't played both sports.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Football by many miles, and anyone who doesn't immediately realize this hasn't played both sports.

Being tough and athletic performance are two different things. Many baseball players try to be tough and pitch through injuries. However, once you lose 8 mph on your fastball, you are now a liability for the team. Basketball is all about running fast and jumping. Back in the day, the NBA was more physical and you could play through more injuries with the style of the game. Many centers had serious foot issues, but were productive even if they had trouble running up and down the court.

[GOATcards]

Most of the successful basketball players are between 6 and 7 feet tall which then produce strains on a near 7 footer like the god now with the Phoenix Suns, like his slim almost twig like ankle rolling over like that a few weeks ago. Hypothetically healthy and not getting a toe on the line or having an MVP-level babyfaced assassin in his prime as the next option, the god is a finals MVP front runner no doubt, under those assumptions, no question he's a winner

Seeing as he's usually pretty healthy, what's Joker'z excuse for not being a winner yet? Fatboy better get his act together, and stop withholding consistent health and bubble Murray powers from Jamal Murray. Bubble Murray, a hypothetically healthy one at that, is Fatboy's HOF if not all-star support, right there in plain sight, for a few weeks in 2020. Time for joker to stop fiddling around, stop the turnstile defense, and get his leadership and attitude and hypothetical health/availability acts together, and to be a winner for once, and not just because bubble Murray, hypothetically healthy of course, bails him out. He needs to come through now.

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[GOATcards]

Notice how Fatboy joker seems to manage to avoid injury by not jumping more than a couple inches off the floor so much. He's got this 280 pound frame on a 7 foot body. Giannis is a 7 footer, maybe 240 pounds, doing athletic maneuvers and euro steps, and a fully natural and legal body maintenance program, seems like it takes some toll on his load -management-needing knees. Think of the different forces of torque and stress as a body gets taller, you come to expect statistically for the All NBA Level select few players are weeded out pretty well before you even factor in health issues. Basketball has 7 foot guys mastering a ton of facets together requiring a distinct combination of height and coordination, jumping ability, and wingspan, and then factors like general intelligence or attitude.

There's also just something that comes from players getting bigger, stronger, and faster - that seems to contribute to injury levels in football as well. More forceful impacts etc

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[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by GOATcards

There's also just something that comes from players getting bigger, stronger, and faster - that seems to contribute to injury levels in football as well. More forceful impacts etc

Position matters as well. Certain positions in Football you can be "tough" and deal with certain injuries. LB's and even CB's have played with broken hands. If you break a hand with a WR, you can't play through that. A torn hamstring for an offensive lineman can be played through, but most other positions it isn't possible.

The depth of rosters is also an important factor these days. Is a superstar at 80% better than an average player at 100%? In the current sports landscape, it is probably no unless it is someone like Mahomes or LeBron a few years ago.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I think the NBA injuries are a combination of players being taller, taller players having to be more athletic, and the early age of NBA players. We have a lot of 20 year old near 7 footers that have weak bone density from growing at a rapid rate in their youth. It takes time for the bone structure to mature, but the NBA is pushing these kids before they are physically mature enough. Some players like Embiid can recover from these early fractures, but some players never do. If I drafted a 20 year old 7 footer in the NBA, I would proceed with extreme caution and even hesitation to let them play a full first season.

Well said....

I'd add that the game is A LOT more athletic that it used to be and players are a lot stronger and more muscle-bound, which puts more stress on joints and soft tissue.

The eurostep has resulted in more body contortions and off-balance strides, and there are a lot more guards driving to the hoop through traffic (after which they usually end up on the floor, like Steph). Never used to see plays like that in the 80's/90's....

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

I’ll take “Words you won’t hear American sports fans say” for 500, Alex.

Thought the same

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Well said....

I'd add that the game is A LOT more athletic that it used to be and players are a lot stronger and more muscle-bound, which puts more stress on joints and soft tissue.

The eurostep has resulted in more body contortions and off-balance strides, and there are a lot more guards driving to the hoop through traffic (after which they usually end up on the floor, like Steph). Never used to see plays like that in the 80's/90's....

Oh snap, so this is why players like Nesmith will have pep in their step long term. Not playing him his first 2 years on Celtics is old-style act of mercy. And shoot, it would keep collectors on the hook with rookies a lot longer, wondering who will finally emerge. That's got to be hobby good.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Agreed... NBA has the most primadonnas of any sport.

Maybe #2 behind soccer players.

[Asian62150]

I love NBA basketball but sadly the NBA players in general are not tough.

I'd say hockey players are up there (they don't even fully disclose injuries until the team is out of the playoffs and then you find out one of the dudes was playing on a broken leg or something).

NFL of course is up there. No one that plays is healthy by the end of the year.

And yet the NBA has this thing called load management, which isn't even proven to work. Of course if you play less you're going to get hurt less.

NBA players found a way to extend their careers which = another contract = more $$$.

But injury prone...maybe baseball? The arm injuries on some of those pitchers are scary.

[Woodsy074]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

Position matters as well. Certain positions in Football you can be "tough" and deal with certain injuries. LB's and even CB's have played with broken hands. If you break a hand with a WR, you can't play through that. A torn hamstring for an offensive lineman can be played through, but most other positions it isn't possible.

The depth of rosters is also an important factor these days. Is a superstar at 80% better than an average player at 100%? In the current sports landscape, it is probably no unless it is someone like Mahomes or LeBron a few years ago.

I played OL for a decade between Jr High and College. The mantra was, if you can walk, you play. OL are the toughest (almost to a fault) players on the field.

I can't say that I've seen someone play through a torn hamstring though. You can't walk if you tear it. A pulled one, maybe.

[rhigh2390]

Originally Posted by rats60

Maybe #2 behind soccer players.

I can get on board with that.

[BGT Masters]

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

I’ll take “Words you won’t hear American sports fans say” for 500, Alex.

I had to do a double take when I read it, was going to google it but didn't want that in my search history.