Gruesome Leg Injury for Jaden Ivey

Young and upcoming Detroit Pistons’ guard Jaden Ivey suffered a gruesome and devastating injury in Wednesday’s 105-96 Piston win against the Orlando Magic. 

With 10:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, Cade Cunningham missed on a 3-pointer from the left wing. Piston big man Isaiah Stewart, battling for the rebound, tapped the ball out to just inside the top of the circle. As Ivey went to pursue the ball, Magic guard Cole Anthony dove and deflected the ball, colliding with Ivey’s leg. Ivey momentarily left his feet and landed just inside the free-throw line, immediately grabbing at his lower left leg. Both benches and coaching staffs surrounded Ivey as medical personnel worked on him. He was stretchered off the floor. 

Late Thursday morning, ESPN’s Shams Charania posted on X that Ivey had sustained a broken fibula. 

Ivey, 22, had been enjoying a career season for the Pistons. In 30 games, his averages were 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 46 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range. The third-year player had scored at least 25 points four different times, topping out with a 28-point game (10-for-19, 4-for-7) against the Washington Wizards on November 17. 

At 15-18, the Pistons have won six of their last 10 games and are ninth in the Eastern Conference. They are one of the surprise teams in the league, with their success accelerated by their collection of young talent that is led by Cunningham and includes Ivey and promising center Jalen Duren. 

Ivey is an athletic scorer whose presence will no doubt be missed by the Pistons. Cunningham is leading the team with 23.8 points, 9.7 assists, and 6.8 rebounds, but Ivey’s 17.6 points are second on the team, followed by Malik Beasley’s 16.2. 

The complete healing process for a tibia (shin bone) or fibula fracture (calf bone) takes between four and six months. A notable fibula fracture injury in the past was San Francisco Giants’ catcher Buster Posey’s in 2011 when a collision at home plate fractured his fibula and tore ankle ligaments. His injury occurred on May 25, 2011 and he returned to the Giants’ lineup on April 6, 2012. 

On October 9, 2022, Seattle Seahawks’ running back Rashaad Penny suffered a broken fibula in a game against the New Orleans Saints. Penny, who had rushed for 749 yards and six touchdowns in 2021, played in just three games in 2023 with the Philadelphia Eagles, running the ball just 11 times. It was his last season in the NFL. Current Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Trey Lance suffered the same injury while a member of the San Francisco 49ers during Week 2 of the 2022 season, but returned for 2023’s training camp. Hall of Fame NFL defensive end Jack Youngblood played the 1979 playoffs and Super Bowl XIV with a broken fibula. On the NBA side of things, John Stockton suffered a right fibula fracture during a USA-Canada exhibition game prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics, and played four games in the tournament, averaging 7.3 minutes. 

According to a study from the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine, there were 28 confirmed tibial fractures across the NBA, NFL, NHL, and Major League Baseball from 2015-2023, with NBA players seeing a performance decrease of 34.5 percent, compared to 29.1 percent in the NFL and 14.2 percent in the NHL. MLB players saw an 8.1 percent increase in performance following recovery. 

Of course, there is a fundamental difference in the recovery across sports. Posey, as a catcher, is crouched down, so there is not as much change of direction or speed generated from his lower body (only when running the bases or chasing a pop up). In Youngblood’s case, the force that is generated to get off the football at the snap of the ball and pursue a ball carrier or quarterback is quite extreme. Stockton, as a point guard and playing with multiple other superstar players as he did in the Olympics, would not have to exert as much energy. Lance too as a quarterback is more stationary, though he is a mobile quarterback. With Penny, a running back where change of direction and taking on contact is essential, it is not difficult to understand why the injury cut his career short. 

The hope for Ivey is that he can come back strong from the injury and return to a semblance of the player that he showed he is this season or even improve on it. Paul George broke his leg (his tibia) in the summer of 2014 and has returned to enjoy a long, productive career that could see him in Springfield one day. George played just six games in the 2014-15 season but four seasons later finished third in MVP voting (28.0 points per game) as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Ivey’s injury is devastating for such a young and promising player, but a positive spin on things is that he is still young and there are proven success stories to follow.