The time I came back from an ACL tear.
Regarding the recent injury of Dante Exum, it hit a nerve in me. Not long ago, I had to comeback from a devastating knee injury myself that could've ended my basketball career. I know a lot of people have gone through a lot worse setbacks than I have, but as a long time lurker on this sub, it felt appropriate to give back and share a story of my own, especially since the nba stories are really slow these days(hope you guys don't mind). I'm a 6'3 asian point guard,went to high school in Canada, was a highly regarded prospect in grade 10, and many expected me to go on to play in college and beyond. Things all started to go down hill from there. In the home opener of my grade 11 year, I went for a lay up but landed awkwardly and felt a sharp pain. After a MRI scan, it was revealed I tore my meniscus, ACL and MCL, with additional bone artifacts. I was told there was a chance I might never play again if my rehab don't go well. It was seriously the hardest moment of my life, the definition of going from 100 to 0. Colleges that were communicating with me suddenly stopped and it felt like all the hard work I put in to the game has gone to waste. That year I helped manage the team, carrying basketballs and taking stats and eventually did the reconstruction surgery 3 months later. The surgeon had explain to me previously what would happen. The scene is a lot like the ending for Kobe's documentary "The Muse", where the doctor talk to you 1 on 1 holding onto a model of knee ligaments. Ofcourse you don't really care about what he's saying, all you wanted at that point would be to get the surgery,and get back onto the court. He explained that he would take a part of my hamstrings and, let it replicate the ACL.
I hear that many people go years without getting their surgery, and some just chose not to get it at all, but I wanted mine done quickly, so after doing about 2 months of pre-rehab(to minimize actual rehab time), I finally got the surgery, and it was like no other surgery I've ever gotten. After the surgery, still high on anesthetic, I was able to walk with a limp and thought it was no big deal. The next day it hit me that I couldn't move the knee at all and even the simple task of going to the washroom and sitting down required assistance. Basically imagine walking around everywhere with one of your legs completely straight, and if it bends just a little bit, you will feel the biggest pain. The light at the end of the tunnel flashes twice, once, when you start biking, because your knee basically haven't moved in forever, so the first time biking would feel like flying, but that feeling does wear off(biking alone on a stationary bike for 45 min is not very intriguing). The second light comes when you start being able to walk again. I compare this to an infant taking his first steps, excited, happy, everyone watching clapping being proud of you except unlike when you were a child this time you would remember the experience for life, a truly chilling feeling, I bursted into tears of joy as it was a sign that everything would be ok. The workout routine of the rehab itself was tough, you're basically fighting the limits of your knee on every exercise as you're afraid to re injure your knee. A normal rehab workout would be biking for 30 minutes, then knee strengthening, agility(for the later parts of rehab), and then icing, a lot of icing.
https://imgur.com/kvSIPwC <---- that type of icing lol
I managed to rehab myself back onto the court within 6 months, just in time to the start of my grade 12 year.
As the main scorer for the majority of my time in high school years, I clearly knew my new knee had limits, and would change the way I approached the game, thus I played the majority of my senior year as a spot up shooter. My scoring went down significantly.There would be games where basketball just did not seem fun anymore, and after going 0-10 from 3s in a game, I broke down, feeling sorry for myself and I wanted to quit. However my coach made me believe in our system. I remember texting coach, and he would tell me to stick with it and good things will happen for those who work hard and are patient. After a long christmas break, things finally looked like they started clicking. I had a 29 point game against one of the best teams in the province, and even got a congrats from Nash himself. Proof below, I'm number 11 haha.
https://blogs.smus.bc.ca/review/2014/01/28/nash-visit-highlights-week-of-b-ball/#.VcRUWJNViko
Then in the island finals, we faced our rival team who's lead by a future 6'11 NBA prospect. On their home court, with the game tied at 72 72 something happened that I would remember for the rest of my life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QI7i8alAk8
https://blogs.smus.bc.ca/review/2014/02/24/senior-boys-basketball-aa-island-champs/#.VcRVEZNVikq
When life hits you with a setback, you could either give up right there and fail, or you can quit feeling sorry for yourself and turn that **** into a comeback.
PS. we lost to the same team in the provincial finals, no fairy tale ending.
