The effect of acl injury on post-recovery basketball performance in the NBA league

Aim. This study investigated whether Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction affects the post-recovery performance in National Basketball Association (NBA) players. Materials and Methods. Quantitative analysis of retrospective data from the NBA players’ game performance and injuries was performed. Data for 44 consecutive NBA seasons (Seasons 1976/1977 to 2019/2020) were analyzed. All male NBA players who sustained an ACL injury, followed by ACL reconstruction, and return to play (RTP) in the NBA during their career (n = 71) were included in the study. Their age at the time of injury, playing position, number of season pre- and post- injury, number of games played per season, points per game, rebounds per game, and assists per game. Results. Players played around 4 seasons before ACL injury and around 5 seasons after injury. After the ACL reconstruction, point guards showed a significant decline in minutes played per game (p = 0.04). A decline in number of games as well as in the minutes played per game could be observed in small forwards (p = 0.03). In average, power forwards played fewer seasons before the injury compared to after the injury (3.5 seasons pre- vs 6.2 seasons post-injury, p < 0.05). The number of games per season and minutes per game did not differ significantly prior and post ACL injury in Centers. The univariate ANOVA showed a 27.3 % general difference in game performance when the whole sample was analyzed. Conclusions. Several performance variables in absolute values, which decreased after RTP, indicate that NBA players’ performance unquestionably changed after the ACL reconstruction.