title: Athletic performance and career longevity following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in the National Basketball Association.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the impact of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction on performance and career longevity for National Basketball Association (NBA) players.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine players (80 knees) with acute ACL tears in the NBA between the 1984-2014 seasons, and 112 age, height, weight, and performance-matched controls were identified. Pre- and post-injury performance outcomes including seasons played, games played, games started, minutes per game, points per game, field goals, 3-point shots, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, personal fouls, usage percentage and player efficiency ratings were compared between cases and controls using independent samples t tests and Fisher's exact tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-eight of seventy-nine players (86.1 %) returned to play in the NBA following ACL reconstruction. Mean length of post-operative play was 1.84 years shorter than matched controls (P = 0.001). There was a significantly higher rate of attrition from professional basketball for players with a history of ACL reconstruction (P = 0.014). In the first full season following surgery, players started in 15.5 fewer games (P = 0.001), they played in 17.3 fewer games (P < 0.001), and had combined player efficiency ratings 2.35 points lower (P = 0.001) when compared to matched controls. Over the length of their careers, players competed in 22.2 fewer games per season (P = 0.009).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a high rate of return to sport in the NBA following ACL reconstruction, although playing time, games played, player efficiency ratings and career lengths are significantly impacted in the post-operative period. These data should be used to manage patients' expectations regarding their abilities to return to elite levels of athletic performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York University Langone Medical Center, 301 E 17th St, New York, NY, 10003, USA. Benjamin.Kester@nyumc.org.|Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. Benjamin.Kester@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Benjamin S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kester
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York University Langone Medical Center, 301 E 17th St, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Omar A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Behery
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York University Langone Medical Center, 301 E 17th St, New York, NY, 10003, USA.|Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Shobhit V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Minhas
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Wellington K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000534:rehabilitation; D054874:Athletic Performance; D001490:Basketball / Q000293:injuries*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000068958:Return to Sport; D014481:United States
keywords: ACL; Anterior cruciate ligament; NBA; National Basketball League; Return to sport