It has now been a couple of weeks since Milwaukee Bucks swingman Jae Crowder underwent surgery on his left adductor. He still has a long way to go before he is able to return to action but the fact that he has now rejoined his team on the bench is an undeniably significant step toward his eventual comeback.
Crowder recently opened up about his injury and he revealed that there’s actually much more to the same than what’s on the surface.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Jae Crowder Speaks Out on Injury
As it turns out, Crowder has been dealing with this adductor problem for some time now. The last straw for him came during Milwaukee’s road game against the Orlando Magic when he had no choice but to leave the contest after an awkward fall.
The 33-year-old revealed, however, that the injury dates all the way back to the preseason:
“Well, this situation has been going on since camp. I’ve been dealing with this all year, and I just felt like I took a wrong fall in Orlando and I was probably like, all right, I need to do something about this, and I got an MRI,” Crowder said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I was pushing off the medical staff all year about getting an MRI because I felt like I could play with it up until I couldn’t. The MRI showed what it showed and it showed what I felt, which was a partial tear in my groin. So, I wanted to get that handled. Glad I caught it early enough too. Then I stopped trying to play through it. I had played through it since training camp.”
Based on Crowder’s revelation here, this situation could have gotten much worse if he opted to disregard the injury. It’s a good thing he knew his body’s limit because at the end of the day, two months out is still much better than a season-ending injury.
Working His Way Back
The initial diagnosis for Crowder was that he was going to be able to return after two months. When asked if this timetable still holds, the 6-foot-6 small forward responded affirmatively:
“That’s the goal right now. That’s still the goal,” he said.
Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Crowder should be back on the floor by early January. This will still give him roughly 50 games to play in the regular season, which for him, is more than enough time to make a significant impact for the Bucks:
“That was my main thing once the medical staff put it on the board for me and let me see it,” Crowder said. “I was like, ‘I still got 50 games if I don’t come back in a rhythm to get myself in a rhythm. And if I don’t come back where I need to be with my conditioning, I have 50 games to get myself there.’ But I feel like I’m doing everything I need to do to check those boxes to somewhat hit the ground rolling once I do come back and not ease my way into it.”
Crowder, of course, is expected to play a key role for Milwaukee in the postseason.
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