Could a player play through a torn ACL for one quarter? Game 7 of Finals

[Cubbies2120]

We saw how Klay was able to continue jog in the hallway, and even jogged back on defense after making his two free throws.

If a player was planning on retiring that offseason, and it's game 7 of the Finals, could they finish out the final 12 minutes of a game?

Let's use Klay as the example because I think he'd be the perfect person for this - he's an elite spot up shooter who you would sit in the corner to minimize movement.

[babyjax13]

Rondo did it:
https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701669/rondo-played-12-minutes-on-torn-acl

But you are probably taking a huge risk and playing through a ton of pain.

[Cubbies2120]

Rondo did it:
https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701669/rondo-played-12-minutes-on-torn-acl

But you are probably taking a huge risk and playing through a ton of pain.

Thanks for this link - had no idea!

What's the potential risk in the scenario I outlined (final game of career) - can you damage it so bad that you'll never be able to walk normally again even after surgical repair from the best docs?

[jordanwilliams6]

I'm pretty sure Zach LaVine continued to play for a quarter or so after tearing his ACL. This is extremely uncommon though, and solely depends on the individual. It's definitely not a 'tough it out' in game 7 kind of situation for the vast majority of players.

[UcanUwill]

I never had this injury, so I cant really tell, but I imagine he couldn't?

[babyjax13]

Rondo did it:
https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701669/rondo-played-12-minutes-on-torn-acl

But you are probably taking a huge risk and playing through a ton of pain.

Thanks for this link - had no idea!

What's the potential risk in the scenario I outlined (final game of career) - can you damage it so bad that you'll never be able to walk normally again even after surgical repair from the best docs?

I'd assume with a knee that isn't structurally sound you'd be risking tearing something else, but idk, not a doctor.

[Cubbies2120]

Rondo did it:
https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701669/rondo-played-12-minutes-on-torn-acl

But you are probably taking a huge risk and playing through a ton of pain.

Thanks for this link - had no idea!

What's the potential risk in the scenario I outlined (final game of career) - can you damage it so bad that you'll never be able to walk normally again even after surgical repair from the best docs?

I'd assume with a knee that isn't structurally sound you'd be risking tearing something else, but idk, not a doctor.

Thanks - any chance you can research it online a bit or maybe consult a doc and get back to me please?

[JimmyPlopper]

Spencer Lee just won the national wrestling title on two torn acls. So its definitely possible but usually basketball players are not as tough

[TwitterFingers]

There was a QB that played with a torn ACL unknowingly. The name is not coming to me right now

Edit - Philip Rivers

[Slacktard]

You could be like DeJuan Blair and not have any ACL's...

[picko]

Would depend on the severity of the tear. The issue with playing with a torn ACL is that it impacts knee stability and basketball is a sport where you are constantly moving laterally or stop-starting, putting incredible pressure on that particular tendon.

A player might be able to do so - but they'd be highly compromised in terms of movement.

[Veez]

There are partial tears and full tears which would affect your ability to keep playing if that's what you wanted to do. And then depending on the movement that caused the tear, additional ligaments (LCL, PCL) and/or the meniscus could also have torn which would just add to the instability and pain and overall range of motion.

A partial tear or even full on tear of the ACL and no other ligament, you might be able to play through it if you have a crazy pain tolerance, but you'd be a liability to your team, especially on defense and you'd be slooow. Any additional ligaments torn in the process and there's no way your knee would remain stable. It'd give way and it'd be a mess.

[andyhop]

You could be like DeJuan Blair and not have any ACL's...

Hines Ward didn't have a left ACL after a childhood accident.
Thurman Thomas played his entire career with a torn ACL.
Peter Wallace a Rugby League player here in Australia played on for 50 minutes to finish the game after completely tearing his ACL and then played the last two years without an ACL after the the reconstructive surgery failed. ( he also finished a game after rupturing a testicle so maybe his pain threshold is higher than normal.)

[Upperclass]

Yes if its just the acl you can play through it.. you would overcompensate on the good leg though and risk further injury and the next day the injured knee would be the size of a basketball and painful but for a certain type of player they would be ok for a game

[chyau.00]

conor mcgregor fought with a torn acl.

[ACMFFL]

Gattuso played almost 90 minutes with a torn acl in 2008-09 against Catania.

[Biff]

Rondo did it:
https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701669/rondo-played-12-minutes-on-torn-acl

But you are probably taking a huge risk and playing through a ton of pain.

Thanks for this link - had no idea!

What's the potential risk in the scenario I outlined (final game of career) - can you damage it so bad that you'll never be able to walk normally again even after surgical repair from the best docs?

Probably not so bad they never walk normally again but you could definitely tear the rest of the ligaments in your knee and do further damage and make the recovery process much longer and more difficult. And it would likely shorten their career even more. But modern surgical medicine is good enough today that they'd probably be able to play professionally even if they tore the rest of their ligaments.

And I say this as someone with a torn ACL in their right knee for the last 5 years. I can still do many activities, I just have to wear a brace. I really do need to look into surgery though, because it has slowly been getting worse the last year or so.

[Hugi Mancura]

You can play with torn ACL. Don't recommend it though. You don't use ACL in your normal movement. If you tear your ACL you can live rest of your life without having an operation and I think lot of people does this (if you are older and don't do sports why would you go through costly operation). You don't use ACL in your normal movement. It is there to keep your knee together. So if you don't go to situations which causes torn ACL's you are fine. You don't even notice your ACL is torn.

With torn ACL you really don't feel pain. Discomfort is better word. Knee feels (and is) looser and in most cases there is swelling, but I have known cases where swelling didn't happen so much. After swelling is gone knee feels little bit looser than it normally does, but normally no pain. I think there are less pain receptors in ligaments than in muscles, but don't quote me on that. Don't really know. So there is really no reason why you shouldn't be able to play after swelling has gone down. Today there are knee supports that really doesn't hindrance your movement that much.

Personal experience. I have torn both of mine ACL's in two separate cases. Worse and first case was 80% tear and couple meniscus torn with it, but after three weeks when swelling had gone down I was playing again (using knee support). I never really felt any pain with mine knee. I do say 'Do not do that' even though nothing did happen to me. But couple weeks after that I did go to check what was wrong because knee still felt weird and couple weeks later I was on operation table. Second time it happened I was smarter and didn't risk it.

[Balllin]

(if you are older and don't do sports why would you go through costly operation).

because in first world countries this is usually paid for by the healthcare system?

[Papi_swav]

Not sure about this. One time my cousin that I didn't see often said he torn his ACL but it didn't really hurt him much . He got surgery and said he was playing ball again in 1 month but the doctor told him to wait atleast 4 months, he's still fine to this day. This was years ago so my memory might not be 100% .

There was a boxer that recently fought 10 out of 12 rounds on a torn Achilles.