Woj: Kawhi Cleared to Play; Chooses to Sit Out; In NYC Getting 2nd Opinion on Injury

[BillMc]

I'd love to hear what "Kawhi's uncle" says the minute we pitch him to come off the bench.

Team first. Every little bit helps. If he can only play 15 minutes that'd be the best spot for him.

But you're right. Uncle Californian wouldn't like it.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

He's still employed by the Spurs. Spurs aren't just going to throw him to the wolves, Spurs are professional as it comes at the end of the day.

For sure, but I was just under the impression Kawhi was keeping the Spurs in the dark about his rehab process.

[BillMc]

Kawhi you were the chosen one

[Amuseddaysleeper]

From reddit:

Actually, in all likelihood, rest will not help Kawhi's injury at all.
I’m not a doctor but played a lot of ball and have had quadricep tendinopathy.
Someone is “able” to play through quad tendinopathy but it is uncomfortable and seriously aggravates the tendons. Usually, when tendinopathy occurs, it's because rest wasn't taken initially and the injury has turned into something akin to chronic inflammation (but inflammation isn't actually present on the cellular level).

I learned, after the fact, that in playing through my tendinopathy, I turned a small injury that could have been treated with two weeks of rest, into an injury that required two years of rehabilitation and treatment. Even with treatment, I was unable to squat down to tie my shoes for the better part of three years.
Essentially, it’s an overuse issue in which the athlete has had many micro-traumas to the tendon, and as such, their body begins to dump type-3 collagen (weak scar tissue) in unorganized bundles atop the injury sites. Our tendons are made of well-organized bundles of type-1 collagen, so this is problematic. Imagine cutting a bunch of incisions into a piece of paper and then handing that piece of paper to a child and asking them to use that tacky white school glue to patch the holes — that’s sort of what’s happening within the body during tendonopathy.

As rest alone will not heal this issue, to combat the body’s response, most physiotherapy consists of eccentric loading (lowering weights very slowly) and not performing the isometric contraction (lifting the weights up). For patellar tendinopathy this would be something like wall-sitting and holding your weight on your injured leg, and then standing up from the wall-sit with your healthy leg. This more-or-less teaches or shows the body to once again deposit the collagen in tight and straight bundles.
This is problematic because the athlete needs to load to that perfect balance where they are achieving the necessary resistance/load to incur healing, but not so much resistance/load that they’re aggravating the injury. As such, the healing really feels like 2 steps forward one back. It’s a delicate affair.
Eventually, the athlete has to slowly re-introduce jumping, running, and other explosive movements in increments so as to not completely ruin their tireless rehab efforts. It’s difficult and frustrating for the average athlete, and likely even more so for a highly motivated athlete like Kawhi.
So, while he may be feeling minimal pain and have full functional movement at this point in his recovery, physiotherapists and doctors need to be very very careful not to rush him back. He'll also need to correct his biomechanics that caused the issue in the first place to ensure that he’s not re-aggravating his injury again, as once it becomes chronic, it could plague him for the rest of his career.

So, yeah, it’s really a touch-and-go scenario that is more of an active recovery than you may believe. But with the trainers and professionals he has access to, he’ll likely clear it up and never have to deal with it again. In my opinion, it's wise of him to sit and avoid aggravating the issue.

[BillMc]

From reddit:

Actually, in all likelihood, rest will not help Kawhi's injury at all.
I’m not a doctor but played a lot of ball and have had quadricep tendinopathy.
Someone is “able” to play through quad tendinopathy but it is uncomfortable and seriously aggravates the tendons. Usually, when tendinopathy occurs, it's because rest wasn't taken initially and the injury has turned into something akin to chronic inflammation (but inflammation isn't actually present on the cellular level).

I learned, after the fact, that in playing through my tendinopathy, I turned a small injury that could have been treated with two weeks of rest, into an injury that required two years of rehabilitation and treatment. Even with treatment, I was unable to squat down to tie my shoes for the better part of three years.
Essentially, it’s an overuse issue in which the athlete has had many micro-traumas to the tendon, and as such, their body begins to dump type-3 collagen (weak scar tissue) in unorganized bundles atop the injury sites. Our tendons are made of well-organized bundles of type-1 collagen, so this is problematic. Imagine cutting a bunch of incisions into a piece of paper and then handing that piece of paper to a child and asking them to use that tacky white school glue to patch the holes — that’s sort of what’s happening within the body during tendonopathy.

As rest alone will not heal this issue, to combat the body’s response, most physiotherapy consists of eccentric loading (lowering weights very slowly) and not performing the isometric contraction (lifting the weights up). For patellar tendinopathy this would be something like wall-sitting and holding your weight on your injured leg, and then standing up from the wall-sit with your healthy leg. This more-or-less teaches or shows the body to once again deposit the collagen in tight and straight bundles.
This is problematic because the athlete needs to load to that perfect balance where they are achieving the necessary resistance/load to incur healing, but not so much resistance/load that they’re aggravating the injury. As such, the healing really feels like 2 steps forward one back. It’s a delicate affair.
Eventually, the athlete has to slowly re-introduce jumping, running, and other explosive movements in increments so as to not completely ruin their tireless rehab efforts. It’s difficult and frustrating for the average athlete, and likely even more so for a highly motivated athlete like Kawhi.
So, while he may be feeling minimal pain and have full functional movement at this point in his recovery, physiotherapists and doctors need to be very very careful not to rush him back. He'll also need to correct his biomechanics that caused the issue in the first place to ensure that he’s not re-aggravating his injury again, as once it becomes chronic, it could plague him for the rest of his career.

So, yeah, it’s really a touch-and-go scenario that is more of an active recovery than you may believe. But with the trainers and professionals he has access to, he’ll likely clear it up and never have to deal with it again. In my opinion, it's wise of him to sit and avoid aggravating the issue.

Post of the year. Thanks man.

[Brazil]

Sure but Brady is playing and nothing is leaking that he has a bad relationship.

Well a bunch of stuff leaked about this guru and the tension between both staff. At the end pats are dealing for years and get used to, I believe pop is not taking well that a player does not trust his staff

[Brazil]

Dude Tom Brady is the GOAT and face of the franchise and league. He has single handedly willed that team to like 5 championships. He is their Tim Duncan/LeBron. He deserves to have a personal chef and his own trainers/staff. He also brought their team with a concussed Gronk to 1 play from winning it all this year, after willing them back from like 28 down last year to win it all. Kawhi would be blessed to sniff Brady's sack.

Bro the parallel I drew is about having own medical staff arguing with team medical staff.. not comparing anything else

[tbdog]

Remember when Leonard and Spurs could not agree to a contract extension a few years back. What was that about?

[Stabula]

Tony Parker is under appreciated

[Killakobe81]

U guys are ing stupid... Kawhi has always been a warrior for us and has always shown up in the post season... ALL of our stars have been out with injuries in their prime... The guy is injured, and ppl pressuring him to play just like u guys are is what keeps reaggrivating his injury... Spurs aren't perfect... Kawhi isn't a drama queen and has never been... Show the man some respect... I don't care how long Kawhi takes to come back, as long as he remains a spur... The guy is the best player in the NBA... U really think he will sit out his MVP year? Gtfoh

Apppreciate the contrarian to all this negativity ...and its good you are loyal to your hometown guy. but no, he is not better than LeBron or Durant. definitely top 5 when healthy and probably top 3. SF just stacked right now ...

[NameLess Scrub]

I hope nobody in the Spurs organization is taking things like in here. It's a possibility he's being too much, but still give the guy the benefit of the doubt and let him look out for his health.

I just hope for the best. Being saying semi sarcastically he won't come back but I hope he finds answers and is back playing soon.

The NBA is not the same without Kawhi. I can't get myself to cheer for guys like warriors, Westbrook, etc. I'm barely getting some sympathy for LeBron, probably thanks to the warriors.

[tholdren]

Im gay

[bklynspursfan]

“Sooner rather than later” right?

It was when he made that comment. Now it's just kind of a show. Sounds like he's over it

[NameLess Scrub]

---

you sure love to pick fights

[Russo21]

Mother er

[Russo21]

Can the Spurs sue Kawhi? Kawhi has been cleared to play and he is voluntarily sitting out while getting paid a friggen fortune! Sue his ass!

[spursistan]

The past year has shown how fortunate Pop has been to have spent virtually his entire career in a setting that doesn't resemble the typical NBA environment..outside of Duncan almost leaving to Orlando(which wasn't even comparable to this, since he was a FA), this franchise has faced minimal NBA drama during their great run..

In the past year, they've had to deal with the reality of the NBA and 2 of the most common personalities among superstar athletes..the cancer who asks for a trade and only cares about touches(Aldridge) and the -ass, pussy-boy (Kawhi)..

We'll see how they adjust to the real world from an NBA standpoint..it isn't so easy without Duncan, Ginobili and Parker putting the team first

Personally, my preference is for Pop to retire and to move on from soft-ass Kawhi..Pop is way too out of touch at his current age, he's just living off reputation..start a re-tool(they won't fully rebuild right now) and get Becky in as coach to keep the team somewhat relevant..

..

The optics of it don't look good for Kawhi. I really hope he is actually injured in the body, not the mind.

The fact that Pop of all people, the gury of rest shtick and player maintenance, was sitting behind a camera to essentially deliver a message to a player and his camp that the ball is in their court and it up to a said player to man up and play is in' nuts ..

[Keepin' it real]

From reddit:

Actually, in all likelihood, rest will not help Kawhi's injury at all.
I’m not a doctor but played a lot of ball and have had quadricep tendinopathy.
Someone is “able” to play through quad tendinopathy but it is uncomfortable and seriously aggravates the tendons. Usually, when tendinopathy occurs, it's because rest wasn't taken initially and the injury has turned into something akin to chronic inflammation (but inflammation isn't actually present on the cellular level).

I learned, after the fact, that in playing through my tendinopathy, I turned a small injury that could have been treated with two weeks of rest, into an injury that required two years of rehabilitation and treatment. Even with treatment, I was unable to squat down to tie my shoes for the better part of three years.
Essentially, it’s an overuse issue in which the athlete has had many micro-traumas to the tendon, and as such, their body begins to dump type-3 collagen (weak scar tissue) in unorganized bundles atop the injury sites. Our tendons are made of well-organized bundles of type-1 collagen, so this is problematic. Imagine cutting a bunch of incisions into a piece of paper and then handing that piece of paper to a child and asking them to use that tacky white school glue to patch the holes — that’s sort of what’s happening within the body during tendonopathy.

As rest alone will not heal this issue, to combat the body’s response, most physiotherapy consists of eccentric loading (lowering weights very slowly) and not performing the isometric contraction (lifting the weights up). For patellar tendinopathy this would be something like wall-sitting and holding your weight on your injured leg, and then standing up from the wall-sit with your healthy leg. This more-or-less teaches or shows the body to once again deposit the collagen in tight and straight bundles.
This is problematic because the athlete needs to load to that perfect balance where they are achieving the necessary resistance/load to incur healing, but not so much resistance/load that they’re aggravating the injury. As such, the healing really feels like 2 steps forward one back. It’s a delicate affair.
Eventually, the athlete has to slowly re-introduce jumping, running, and other explosive movements in increments so as to not completely ruin their tireless rehab efforts. It’s difficult and frustrating for the average athlete, and likely even more so for a highly motivated athlete like Kawhi.
So, while he may be feeling minimal pain and have full functional movement at this point in his recovery, physiotherapists and doctors need to be very very careful not to rush him back. He'll also need to correct his biomechanics that caused the issue in the first place to ensure that he’s not re-aggravating his injury again, as once it becomes chronic, it could plague him for the rest of his career.

So, yeah, it’s really a touch-and-go scenario that is more of an active recovery than you may believe. But with the trainers and professionals he has access to, he’ll likely clear it up and never have to deal with it again. In my opinion, it's wise of him to sit and avoid aggravating the issue.

[DMC]

His body can handle workouts but he couldn't give us 15 to 20 minutes on non back-to-backs? Have him come off the bench, it'd still be something.

It's not the Spurs' call.

I can't say I blame him. He's worried about his future. For you and me, we'd just walk it off because we aren't looking at 200 million over 5 years, riding on our health. If Kawhi isn't at 100%, he's not going to command max pay and if his game struggles because of it, he's going to fall off the superstar radar.

For him, it's probably just paranoia and trust. He's been released to play a few times, like last year with his ankle, and yet he wasn't really ready.

He has a ring, 2 DPOY awards and a Finals MVP. That's a stellar career for even a 20 year player. He doesn't feel "ring" pressure, I don't think.

Plus, you hear "it's your team" when you're a young player, that locks you in. You probably take less than you're worth. Kawhi could now be told that about a lot of teams in the league. He's not relegated to the Spurs system anymore.

Still, I think it's more drama than substance.

[vander]

you should read it though, it changed mind on Kawhi's situation. I hope he rehabs it right, takes as much time as necessary

[DMC]

Cliff Notes version: Dude isn't a doctor but thinks he is. Says Kawhi is right.

[r0drig0lac]

Kobe >>>>>>> Kawhi

nobody would say otherwise anyway

[r0drig0lac]

Btw, yet again this shows how dumb it is to pay Mills for 'culture'

Under his locker room leadership, Kawhi refuses to play, LMA had demanded a trade, Pau cries about not starting, Dedmon bashed his lack of minutes publicly, Slow-Mo's dad declared that he should be the number one option, David West talked the team on the way out, etc etc

Best culture leader ever

truth b...

[Seventyniner]

From reddit:

Actually, in all likelihood, rest will not help Kawhi's injury at all.

In my opinion, it's wise of him to sit and avoid aggravating the issue.

Which is he recommending? The first and last sentence contradict each other.

[spurs2112]

you should read it though, it changed mind on Kawhi's situation. I hope he rehabs it right, takes as much time as necessary

If what this individual said about the injury is true, it does change things a bit. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it rumored or thought at one point this injury started last season. If he brought it up to the medical staff then and was told everything is ok or its just soreness you can play through and not rested it initially, he may have damaged it more as the reddit post suggest. This could be why he is upset with the Spurs and the medical staff and why he is taking his time now.