More experienced NBA players less likely to maintain efficiency after hand, wrist injury
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Key takeaways:
- Strain or sprain and fracture were the most common hand and wrist injuries in National Basketball Association athletes.
- Age, years in the NBA and weight were associated with equal or higher player efficiency.
SAN FRANCISCO — Results showed older, more experienced players in the National Basketball Association who had hand and wrist injuries were less likely to maintain or improve player efficiency compared with younger, less experienced players.
Researchers also found player efficiency and total shooting percentage may be maintained or improved 2 years after injury in players who were heavier or had a higher BMI.
“NBA players sustaining hand and wrist injuries, regardless of dominant or nondominant hand and wrist injuries, are likely to return to their overall baseline player efficiency by 2 years,” Eugenia Lin, MD, at PGY-2 at the Mayo Clinic, said in her presentation at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. “Certainly, further research should discern types of injury patterns in the NBA.”
Lin and colleagues used the Pro Sports Transactions database to collect injury data among players in the NBA from the 2015 to 2016 season to the 2020 to 2021 season, with exclusion of the 2020 to 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers also documented injury description, states of injury, dates of return to play and NBA player demographic information. Researchers performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to identify risk factors associated with equal or increased player efficiency rating and true shooting percentage 2 years after injury.
“The player efficiency rating is a player’s per minute productivity, offensively and defensively, and then the total shooting percentage is a player’s offensive shooting efficiency. That measures the shooting of the ball, utilizing two-point field goals, free-throws and three-point field goals,” Lin said.
Of the 214 reported hand or wrist injuries, Lin said 173 injuries were classified as structural, 140 occurred on the dominant side and 15 were season-ending injuries. She added the median of all games missed due to injury was four.
According to Lin, strain or sprain was the most common injury type, with an injury incidence of 0.63 per 1,000 game exposures; while fracture was the second most common injury type, with an injury incidence of 0.37 per 1,000 game exposures.
“In our model, only the factors of age, years in the NBA [and] weight were associated with having equal or higher player efficiency rating at 2 years compared to baseline,” Lin said.
For every 1-pound increase in weight, Lin said the risk of having an equal or higher player efficiency rating increased by 2%. She added the relative risk of having an equal or higher player efficiency rating decreased by 11% for every 1-year increase in age and for every 1-year increase in years in the NBA.
“In terms of total shooting percentage, only BMI was associated with having an increased relative risk at 2 years compared to baseline and this was statistically significant,” Lin said.
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Lin E, et al. Paper 237. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; Feb. 12-16, 2024; San Francisco.
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