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After ankle surgery, what's next for Memphis Grizzlies' Zach Edey? Here's what one doctor says
The offseason injury bug found its way back to Memphis.
While participating in an offseason training session last week, Grizzlies center Zach Edey sprained his left ankle.
He recently had surgery to stabilize the ankle and will be reevaluated in four months. The injury is expected to keep the 7-foot-4 second-year player out for the beginning of the season, which starts Oct. 21.
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The Grizzlies now must adjust to playing without Edey, who won't have the benefit of participating in a normal first NBA offseason.
The Commercial Appeal spoke with Dr. Kenneth Jung, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles, to help provide clarity on Edey's outlook. Jung has worked with the Los Angeles Lakers and L.A. Kings, among other professional sports teams.
Explaining Zach Edey's injury
Edey's surgery was for an ankle sprain, a notion that can be perplexing. In theory, he could have healed from the sprain and been able to return to action before the NBA season began.
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However, there's more to this injury. Surgery was elected to address the laxity in his left ankle, the Grizzlies said on June 10.
In Jung's words, the ligaments in an ankle are like pieces of taffy.
"Each time you roll it or sprain it, it can get a little more stretched out," he said. "It's not elastic. It doesn't go back to its original length . . . If it's stretched out, it doesn't necessarily in part have the same stability to the joint as it did before."
Edey's surgery will stabilize the ankle and prevent constant sprains that could progressively get worse.
Zach Edey's recovery process
Jung said doctors will let the ankle heal before working on range of motion or anything else.
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"You don't want it to heal stretched out," he said. "If it heals stretched out, then you might as well have not done anything."
Jung estimates that it will take the ligament four to eight weeks to stabilize and heal before Edey can start rehab. Then there will be a gradual ramp-up toward basketball activity.
Strength and confidence will be two of the biggest factors that determine how fast or methodical Edey's return will be after he's reevaluated in four months.
"I'm sure that he's had episodes where he kind of just plants on it and it rolls," Jung said. "If he feels unsteady in that sense, then it's building up that confidence again where he can plant on it, push off and go. He's got to trust it again."
Zach Edey's return
These types of ankle surgeries are usually done in the offseason. While not the most common surgical procedure, there are NBA players who have had a similar surgery and returned to basketball.
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Former Grizzlies guard Sam Merrill needed surgery in 2022 after enduring chronic ankle sprains. At the time, he called the surgery a "pretty rare" process.
NBA veteran Taj Gibson had issues with his left ankle for multiple seasons before seeing a foot specialist and getting surgery in June 2015. He was able to return at the beginning of the following season and played in 73 games.
Each player's body is different, but these examples show that Memphis can still factor Edey into its long-term plans.
"(The surgeries) do very well," Jung said. "You hear ankle sprain, and it's not like Achilles rupture or ACL tear when the general public automatically associates it with surgery. In this case, you're doing surgery more for the chronic instability. Not necessarily because he had an ankle sprain."
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Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Zach Edey injury: Doctor explains Grizzlies center's ankle surgery
