Playing Doctor: A Look at Past Navicular Bone Injuries

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

The navicular bone is connected to the…talus bone. With Philadelphia’s selection of Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in last Thursday’s draft, many Sixers fans are brushing off their elementary school lessons about human anatomy. After the initial diagnosis that the Kansas big man would be out 4-6 months as a result of the surgery on his foot, Sam Hinkie announced that the timetable was more like 5 to 8 months. Of course, at 7’0″, the concern for many teams was whether this injury portends long-term issues with Embiid’s ability to stay on the court over the course of his career. To get a better idea of the road ahead for Embiid, let’s take a look at how the same injury affected other NBA players in the past.

Michael Jordan (6’6″) – His Airness broke the navicular bone during a game on October 29, 1985, and went on to miss 64 games that season. However, he did return for Chicago’s playoff series at the end of the year, and although the Bulls were swept by the Boston Celtics, Jordan set the NBA record with 63 points in a playoff game. He went on to have a pretty solid career selling burgers, saving the world from aliens, and generally being considered the greatest player of all time.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas (7’3″) – Ilgauskas fractured the bone in January of 2000, missing the rest of that season for the Cavaliers, but returning as the team’s starter the following season. Big Z played 10 more seasons in the league following the injury, a productive stretch that included 2 All-Star appearances. LeBron James insisted on attending the Cavaliers’ ceremony for his friend and former teammate earlier this year, which I’m told is the highest honor a player can receive.

Yao Ming (7’6″) – The Chinese big man suffered the fracture in the 2009 playoffs, missing the rest of that series (which the Rockets lost to the Lakers in 7 games) and eventually electing for offseason surgery. Yao missed the entire 2009-10 season, before trying to return for the 2010 campaign, but was only able to play 5 games, as he suffered another stress fracture in his ankle. The confluence of injuries forced Yao to retire early after just 8 highly effective seasons.

Brendan Haywood (7’0″) – The long-time Wizard was diagnosed with a stress fracture in October of 2013 while a member of the Charlotte Bobcats. He has still yet to return to the court, having missed the entire season in what turned out to be a playoff appearance for the Bobcats, now-Hornets. It would appear team owner Michael Jordan has not shared his secret for coming back from this injury with Haywood.

Kevin McHale (6’10”) – The Celtics hall-of-famer broke the bone in March of 1987, but ignored doctors and continued to play through the playoffs, where Boston eventually lost to the Lakers in the Finals. McHale later had offseason surgery and returned to the court December 1st of that year. He played 6 more seasons in the league, including three where he averaged over 20 points per game. It should be said that McHale, now the coach of Houston Rockets, now walks with a limp, which is generally attributed to his decision to play through the injury that season.

If past results are any indication, the navicular injury is not a death knell for Joel Embiid. Everyone points out that Jordan having the injury isn’t indicative of anything given that he was a perimeter player, but Ilgauskas and McHale were both big men able to bounce back from it effectively. More so than this injury itself, I think Sixers management had to determine whether this injury, combined with the back and knee injuries suffered in his freshman season paint a picture of a body not able to handle the rigors of high-level basketball. What do you think, did the Sixers make the right decision gambling on Embiid?