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"He's DeJuan Blair"
http://www.slate.com/id/2234460/
No Ligaments, No Problem
How can DeJuan Blair play without an anterior cruciate ligament in either knee?
By Juliet Lapidos
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, at 4:46 PM ET
Rookie forward DeJuan Blair began his professional basketball career with the San Antonio Spurs last week and has so far averaged a very respectable 8.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The former University of Pittsburgh star was initially projected as a high pick in the 2009 NBA draft, but he slid to the second round after a physical revealed something unsettling: The player has no anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in either knee—the result of two high school surgeries. How can Blair play at a professional level without an ACL to call his own?
With his fingers crossed. When an athlete (or anyone, for that matter) lands after a jump, the force of that impact moves up the leg to the knee. This force is dissipated or opposed by muscles, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments like the ACL, which connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone) and helps keep the knee stable by limiting twisting motions. Since Blair lacks ACLs, his quadriceps and hamstring muscles, and the remaining soft tissues in his knee, will need to pick up the slack, as it were, straining harder to stabilize and absorb shocks. So long as his quads and hams remain strong, it's possible for Blair to play.
During his high-school surgeries, Blair's doctors did not purposefully remove his ACLs—the going theory is that they tried to repair some partial damage to the ligaments and failed. Then, over time, Blair's ACLs deteriorated to the point of disappearance. Since this was a gradual change, his muscles and other ligaments could have adapted slowly to the added strain. Without such an adjustment period—if his doctors had simply cut out the ligaments, for example—it's likely he would have injured himself on the court quite rapidly. Blair is now thought to face a higher risk of damaging his knees (especially his meniscus) than athletes with repaired ACLs—and he may end up with osteoarthritis.
Another athlete with Blair's deficiency wouldn't necessarily be capable of operating at such a high level. It's possible that Blair, without consciously intending to do so, has found a way to jump and land that's less harsh on his knees. Or that his other ligaments are particularly resilient. Anatomy may also have something to do with his success. Knock-kneed types are more dependent on their ACLs than the bow-legged.
Blair is not the first professional athlete to play with a missing ACL. In 2008, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers blew out his right knee but played with a completely nonfunctional ACL in a conference championship game against the New England Patriots. The Chargers lost, and Rivers underwent an extensive reconstructive operation. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is missing the ACL in his left knee—the result of a bike accident during childhood. Like Blair, he didn't realize the deficiency until he left college to go professional.
Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks Walter R. Lowe of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Scott McLean of the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.
"He's DeJuan Blair"
ACL's are for women and children.
I just hope the ACL doesn't end up ending his career in the future. He may only last a few years in the NBA, but it will still be worth it considering he was the 37th draft pick.
8.3 points and 8.3 boards in 20 minutes for a ROOKIE is damn more respectable. But those same numbers for Dejuan Blair are a colossal dissapointment.
On a serious note, I hope the coaching staff makes sure he does many quad/ham specific workouts, so as to keep him going strong. If he's been doing fine for 2 years+ he should be good, but this string of events (SL, pre-season, season, POs) will be the biggest test of his life.
Hope he can at least earn a second contract...
"He's DeJuan Blair"
Damn Straight...they can pull on Superman's cape all they want but, the Beast will get the rebound come or high water!
LOL...good one!
A very good article. Thanks for posting!
ACL's are overrated.
the good thing is, they know about it. Blair should and will do a special program to strengthen his muscles and doctors will examine regularly, so it should also be possible to timely react when there are signs of overstraining his other ligaments or the meniscus. one major question will always be his weight. any doctor will tell him, the lesser weight the better. but at some point he would lose his ability to play his game.Since Blair lacks ACLs, his quadriceps and hamstring muscles, and the remaining soft tissues in his knee, will need to pick up the slack, as it were, straining harder to stabilize and absorb shocks. So long as his quads and hams remain strong, it's possible for Blair to play.
And he's not jumping so much.
Defensively he rarely goes for a block, he always stays the arms up.
Did anyone notice that ?
Could you imagine what he would be like if he had his ACL's?
Probably not a Spur. He would have been top 10 pick for sure.
Could very well be picked by the Grizzllies, Thunder, Bucks, Knicks just to name a few.
Good point. I believe that the Spurs docs will be monitoring this situation regularly and react if something is amiss. In another thread - Pittman who is a Pitt grad and follower of Blair during his college days - stated that he came to Pitt weighing close to 300 but left around 265. So there seems to be a weight control program in place. But you are correct in stating that there is a tradeoff between weight and the ability to play his game. He needs to drop more weight in order to be quicker in guarding the C/PF that play away from the basket. How much wieght? Dunno. We'll see I guess.
at some point in his NBA career, I predict that he will require surgery to correct the ACL deficiency.
Fixed it for you.
now we all know the dejuan blair is tim tebow and chuck norris bull is stupid and only mildly amusing to gray posters
these are the things we know. we know this
im rooting for the guy but 8 pts 8 rpg isnt even close to being superman, and if it was, the joke would be unfunny in about a week
If Dejuan Blair really needed ACLs he would have pulled them straight out of an opponent's knees during a game.
He'll take Pau's when we play the Lakers!
You know, you may actually have a point. I mean, height-wise, he is around their knee level and all.
with his teeth
it's really not that big of a deal. i play pick up games at a park by my house every day and i have no acl, mcl, or miniscus's in my left knee, granted i don't play nba. it's amazing but possible. just don't get surgery and suffer about 4 years worth of pain and re-injury and bam, you got a ligament-less knee that works great!
ACL's are important but with proper physical fitness program assigned & rest, Blair should be just fine.. And have a productive NBA career hopefully in a spurs jersey.....
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