In American Football, you could expect injuries. Players are always blocking, diving, on the ground, tackling, and getting tackled. However, when it comes to basketball there are good number of injuries. Many people are confused as to why basketball has so many injuries. So let’s dive into the reasoning.

The first reason basketball players have so many injuries is because they leave the ground frequently. When you’re in the air and get bumped in any way, it’s very hard to control the way you land. Many players get ankle and knee injuries due to the force of landing. Secondly, because of the way players unnaturally turn and twist their bodies, it makes them vulnerable to little nagging injuries. Lastly, players get hurt frequently in basketball because they are playing so frequently. NBA teams play multiple times per week, on limited rest due to traveling.

It’s funny how basketball is labeled as such a soft sport, but the injuries involved in the sport don’t add up to it being soft. Below we will get into why basketball injuries may be increasing.

Why Does It Seem Like Basketball Injuries Are More Frequently As Of Late?

Let’s start with the fact that players are playing a lot more now. This is because every playoff series is best of 7 today. Back in the day(before 2003 specifically), the first round was only best of 3. this cut down the playoffs by a significant amount. Now teams are playing far into June, when they used to play into April. This doesn’t seem like a significant difference but over the span of a 10 year career, making the playoffs consitently, these few extra games add up.

Let’s take the NBA out of the equation for a second as well. When players grow up playing basketball, they go from high school basketball, to AAU, and so on. It is increasingly more common for players to play year-round and this can cause injuries to occur more frequently.

Additionally, the game has also evolved over time as well. With shoes getting lighter, players are jumping higher and landing harder. As a result, they are putting more pressure on their joints, increasing the risk of injury.

If you want a guide to not getting injured as frequently as basketball player, we don’t specialize in that, but you can check out this article for some general tips.

Conclusion

Now you know the answer to the question, “Why does basketball have so many injuries?”. If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it to help spread the word. Also take a look at the tags below to see related posts: