This Is Getting Out of Control 

Nothing but respect for Randle. It can be tough being a Knicks fan, but credit to Randle for always being available

This might be why Giannis has been able to bounce back from injuries and avoid major ones. He started playing late and had added a lot of muscle through weight lifting

I remember Tim Grover also saying that one difference between MJ & Kobe when it comes to practice is that the latter didn't know when to stop. Hence, the former had golf to channel his competitive drive while letting his body recover.

I think PG has a point, I think it’s the constant inconsistent times off players take. Whether by load management, rehabing injuries, to the lengthy Allstar break. Giving the body a moment of down time then to immediately toss it back into a fast passed sport without proper warm ups. It’s also crazy that majority of the players that load manage are still getting injured like LeBron,AD,PG,Kawhi, etc.

I was thinking why Jokic has been so injury free for all these years. And maybe it's because his game is not based on athleticism that his joints and ligaments don't go through as much as most other players. Jokic is the one star I've seen who's been in the league a while that doesn't get those minor injuries that keeps him out of games. I feel like just this year the team has been load managing him more and even then he probably could've played.

It's crazy how PG just talked about this and got that injury rest up pg can't wait to see you back

This was a great breakdown. As Tim stated, and I think this is the key, is the number of games, the wear and tear on the body before they ever step on a NBA court. The accumulative effect is killer, the never ending grind of basketball played is a serious factor. Playing year round and never letting the body rest is not good is the number one factor in my humble opinion...

Jxmy’s videos are always so good. The narrating, editing, evidence to back up his reasoning, music, and many more factors that go into making a high tier presentation like this one are all spot on. Jxmy could literally talk about the most boring topic but he’d still somehow pull me in and make me interested.

I'll never stop respecting your presentation styles. Your ability to get an idea out there explained clearly to your viewers. Great job again

Shohei Ohtani was injury prone early in his career, the Angels lowered his load in response, injuries kept happening. Then they played him everyday and the injuries dropped drastically.

I read that there was a study that showed a correlation between focusing on only one sport and being injured. Essentially, if a kid only plays one sport while coming up, they're more likely to be injured than kids that play multiple sports. They seemed to draw the conclusion that you overdevelop specific muscles for specific movements and your body breaks down because of imbalances.

I think the pace is a good example, as a Bulls fan, DeMar takes it slow on the court compared to other players. He makes methodical, calculated moves, utilizes pump fakes, etc. It’s like he’s straight out of the 90s, and I think that is why he’s so healthy most of the time. I’m pretty sure he only missed games last season due to getting Covid with no symptoms, and being sat for our last game of the season that didn’t matter for standings. I also think part of it is that DeMar plays through the pesky little injuries, some people get contusions (which are bruises) and sit for 2-3 games sometimes. Yes some can be bad, but 95% of them are small bruises that you can play through. When you group in these minor injuries, with load management, you’re already adding on 10-15 missed games that really could have been played.

Mikal bridges should’ve been noted as not missing a game. I believe the only reason he missed a game was due to the trade. That’s why as a Suns fan it was so sad to see him leave, he’s an old school kind of player that doesn’t miss games and stays injury free. Now that he has a bigger role on the Nets though I guess we will see how he holds up but I think he will be fine.

That Paul George injury really hurt my soul. Bro threw down a 360 in traffic, and looked like he was in the best shape of his life

Jimmy is 100% right about the evolution of the game. If the league had never made it legal to put your hand on the side of the ball and basically carry there wouldn’t be all these changes in direction

I played volleyball competitively on a recreational level and it was fun and my body held up well. Then I got shoulder bursitis from sleeping on my side. From that point on the shoulder caused so many problems I stopped playing. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to maintain at a pro level; which is what makes MJ’s last season of 82 games so impressive in my eyes.

"These players are designed to play this game. But the game may not be designed for them anymore" --- JxmyHighroller 03.23.23

Tim Grover simply trained the top 3 SG to ever touch a basketball. Thank you for your contribution to NBA history.

allowing the carry and traveling also puts more pressure on defenders knees and ankles as the time they are expecting someone to HAVE to pick up the ball has changed

You do a great job keeping us all informed. Thanks!!!

It's always great to grab your phone to find out Jimmy just posted another classic. This man is the real MVP.

I think it’s crazy how Jordan Poole has managed to not get injured when he’s constantly stopping and accelerated and a extremely fast pace. Like a couple of times a game he is full speed running and then stops on a dime. I just hope he can start being really good all the time and not really good for a few games and then really bad for a few.

Showing up for work everyday is quite an accomplishment. Especially when you work 82 shifts a year.

Absolutely loved this video! Keep up the great work

One thing I love about my Cavs is that they've done an amazing job at avoiding these problems. We have had Garland and Allen out but both were for freak accidents of getting basically punched in the face. Videos like these just make me appreciate the Cavs management more and more.

What I like about Jxmy’s analytics is the pure effort he puts into his research, which makes all of his videos far superior than any ESPN analytics. Well done Jxmy, we can’t appreciate you enough but keep up the exceptional work!

the sequence starting at 10:30 was so good ....I have always wondered this and you presented this in such an interesting and thoughtful way!

Wow one of your best videos lately. Interesting facts and theories and an good subject that realy has an interest. Thanks.

Just watching the strength workouts which the Bulls and the Lakers teams had done in the 90's, and 2000's, today's day and age is completely different. Jimmy is beyond on point here, as accessory work weakens players, instead of getting them ready for the season. Mike and Kobe always, ALWAYS trained with weights, and did so to build their body for the torture being received. Mike himself said he was too weak when he was up against the Pistons, and during that time he was working with cables and doing accessory work, injuring himself in games way too easily in turn. Once he switched to a different aspect of lifting with genuine dumbbells, Mike reached his toughest shape. Kobe was similar, and once the strength training upped, so did his performance, and the consistency of his nagging injuries lessened. I myself decided to test this out, as up until three years ago I was only training with light regimens and bands, accessory work yet again. However, once I started lifting with a mobility-strength focus, my game tripled in production. I ran faster, felt comfier, experienced springs for legs, and the added muscle also altered my release point and brought it up right above my head, allowing me to shoot more difficult shots with the added bonus of not getting my shit sent across the court. All in all, this point is quite true, and Jimmy nailed it on the head. Lovely content.

Kobe/MJs trainer just made me realize why LeBron was so durable for almost 20 years, he was one of the few players who weight lifted all year round not just the off season.

Been thinking about this for awhile, great video and logic to the problem

I gotta say this homework you do is very helpful for arguments.

I’d love to see a breakdown of players missing games in the playoffs now vs historical averages). The sport has become (and I’m talking fans, owners, analysts and players) so focussed on the playoffs to the detriment of the regular season. It would be interesting if the trend holds in the playoffs.

I already know this is about to be some of the best content on RU-vid.

I think it’s a combo of the style of play along with what PG said…you have to put your body through it , through the rigors of practice vs lifting weights and resistance bands. While the later are helpful, you still need to play, then get the proper rest/recovery.

I’m 22 years old and just got diagnosed with Degenerative bone disease. I’ve played soccer and basketball every year since I was like 6 and now that I’m 22 I’ve put so many miles on my body that I probably won’t be able to play at the highest level that I’m used too ever again. My most recent MRI shows that over the 16 years of sports, I wore down the protective tissue between my bones and will have progressive osteoarthritis for the rest of my life. So yes, I think you are spot on in this video

I think they are more careful and are able to detect injuries better too. Players back then may have played through minor injuries compared to today, where today they would sit you out to prevent more damage on it. It's not that injuries increased, it's that they are detected better. Of course there are many variables that goes into this, and each of them go hand in hand.

Notice how Jxmy didn't finish this video with his classic "Hope you all enjoyed" line since the topic is not someone can enjoy. Very classy touch.

Definitely agree the trainers are not having work on acceleration and deceleration and weight lifting of building the body’s endurance to withstand everything they are doing sports wise.

Speaking on Paul George. I played 5 years at my college (had to redhisrt one year due to season ending concussions). As soon as I transferred from JUCO to my NAIA (where i started) they were a lot more relaxed and I started getting injured more. I missed 3 games my junior year due to the flu and a pesky ankle injury (3 games out of 30 is 10% of my season). The following season I hyperextended my knee and was out for 3 weeks and I injured myself in our National tournament game again. It sounds crazy but the amount of rest made me relaxed as hell. Also my knee was just throbbing this entire video lol. Them injuries suck man. A hyperextended knee feels as if a claw machine ripped your leg off.

I think another factor is how players play in a kind of way like DRose in his Chicago Era. Demonic agility, high speed type of guard, the way he shifts his body was unbelievable--and throughout those amazing moves and skills, he was dealt with so much injuries. Sometimes when watching his highlights you can see how his muscles constraint when he switch up his motions and it was scarily amazing to watch.

Surprised you didn’t mention Mikal Bridges, on pace to become the first player ever to play 83 games in a season due to his trade. Hasn’t missed a game his entire career. Not only NBA, he did not miss a single game since college… Man is (literally) built different

Thanks for this. It touches on a subject I’ve been sensitive about for years. Basketball players and football players have a highly unusual injury rate-especially when it comes to non-contact injuries. Although I don’t agree totally with your conclusions or the damning of resistance bands and the like, I’m glad you did your best to call this real problem to people’s attention. I’m just going to throw one point out there: since Nike came out with the first cushioned soles in the 70s, the amount of injuries has skyrocketed. That’s no coincidence. Our feet need to feel the ground to be healthy, and without healthy feet you’re going down.

you kill it every time great content

This guy does some impressive research and the presentation is so clear even someone who doesn’t follow basketball will understand. Love your work ❤

this made me think, NBA players are moving alot like NFL receivers with all the quick cuts but they have to do it significantly more often. Receivers are usually washed by their early to mid 30s and it looks like the NBA could be heading that way too

One of your best videos Jimmy, well done

I started playing basketball when I was about 4 and I loved it, then when I was 15 I started training 3 times a day 5-6 days a week. I ended up with tons of injuries from random things like a broken nose or getting my eye cut 3 times but also lingering things like fracturing my ankle multiple times, broken wrist, but the most lingering was when I ended up with tendinitis on both knees from overuse. Doctor said tears were pretty bad, not sure how I could play through the pain and that I would need 4 months without any impact and then start strengthening and rehabbing the muscles around my legs. I was a stubborn 17yr old kid trynna go pro so I rested 2 days and kept training as usual. Took almost 3 years for my knees to heal. Oh and ps after working my ass off God decided to be funny and leave me at 5’9 so the furthest I got was semi-pro basketball ( and if you’ve played at that level you know that even there the hoopers are a PROBLEM 💯 )

The observation I had during the video when you said “you might catch an elbow” is the old game induced more contact, like getting hit in the face, but when I get a bloody nose I can still play that same hour once it stops bleeding. As you said with the sudden cuts and changes in direction, those induce non contact injuries and generally those are more serious than contact injuries. When I roll my ankle, I’m out for a week.

As a Knicks fan, even though Randle suffers from a lot of off-nights (like last night against the Heat), he still finds a way to play all 82 games.

I always had a conspiracy that concentric only training (or concentric dominant training) is part of the reason why players get injured so frequently now.

Just think of the shoes they used to wear back then compared to today also! You consistently post the best videos. Keep up the great work!

I think the answer is honestly more simple than everyone thinks. Intensity + repeatability. Like Jimmy said people are moving faster and quicker than ever and doing that at an all time level over and over again leads to injuries. Weight lifting and lack of plyometrics and mastering your own body weight are also a factor

Eurostep in particular is an insane move for your knees and really exposes your ankles as well.

All of this is true. There is a missing aspect of laziness that’s involved as well

Bro I can watch your videos forever very good content

NBA players may be missing games but I’m not missing any uploads! Keep the great content coming Jxmy

It's time we truly appreciate LeBron. Big man like that, from teen, playing at a high level and keeping his body in relatively good shape.

90s also utilized multiple playstyles, a center would lock the paint and attack the rim, a shooting guard is the attacking master and defender, and a point guard is the facilitator and playmaker, they can overlap but they trained their bodies to do these specific tasks for most of the time now, not only playstyle is much different, players can be asked to move around and do multiple different tasks that can strain the body more overtime, you can't expect from a center to move and create space or chase down and shoot and not get injured for example, that's along with all the other reasons mentioned in the video

Great video & breakdown.

The pace of basketball has dramatically increased so much that keeping up with running around screens and creating opportunities and plays faster then ever could be the main reason why honestly. The body playing so earlier plus mixing in extreme paced games at the same time might be answer why this new Era of players are amazing yet injuries come faster then before.

Anyone that needs to hear this, Better days are coming. You still have so many amazing memories to make.You’re going to be successful i promise you 🤞🏽❤️‍🔥

I don’t watch as often as I used to, but you still make fantastic videos. I think we are just reaching the limit of human capability

Recently watched a Dreamerspro episode. He gave your channel great respect and made me aware of this. I instantly subscribed. Upon watching, I may have been here before, but I'm now here to stay. Great work.

As a personal trainer, what tim said is very true. Simple old school strength and conditioning training works wonders for joint mobility and overall performance. The game has increased in speed over the years and body is not conditioned to keep up.

Excellent content as always, Jxmy. I greatly appreciate your analysis.

It could be focusing on one sport. When I was in high school, there was a basketball star at a neighboring high school. In college, he set Big 10 football records that still stand, as a pro he hit a home run in the World Series to finish off the Padres. Four years later, he hit the most famous home run in Dodgers history while he was too injured to start. Multiple sports are better for the body and help the mental toughness.

Another thing to note is that all players today play in low-tops. I have been playing in hightops my whole life (Kobe 9 Elites being my all-time top hooping shoe). I can't help but imagine low-tops could lead to more ankle injuries with a lack of stability. There's def a give-and-take between transitioning to low-tops vs old-school high-top chunky sneakers.

As usual fantastic video and analysis! I just hope NBA doesn't reduce the number of games, cause that would totally mess up stat references to previous times.

First of all, this was a great video, and I thoroughly enjoyed it because of how well thought out and diverse the topics were. If I remember correctly from video floating online, there was a marathon fever during the 1970-1980s and many of the runners were predominantly doing speed runs (RPE @ 7, let's say) more than aerobic runs (RPE @ 3) due to these coaches were in fact former track coaches, and didn't know how to train marathon runners. In the past, there were a few people who speculated that people who were doing higher intensity of workouts were correlated with higher risk of injury, than those who were doing easy, non-demanding, and aerobic training, but had no reliable data to back it up. However, more and more data started to advocate for easy training; that the "easy" training plans yielded (about~) the same results to those who were on the "hard" training plans. Yes, basketball players and distance runners demands two different things out of their bodies, but I do believe they differ in their mindsets. And I agree with Paul George's statement on "not enough practice," but perhaps they're practicing... incorrectly? Maybe Tim Grover is onto something about decelerating? Maybe the "no pain, no gain mindset" leads to burnout culture and injuries? I'm not sure, though. I recently converted from basketball to distance running, so I personally think there's a gap in how practice is viewed between the two sports. Just my two cents! (For anyone interested in the marathon training style, I believe this is called the "Maffetone Method.")

This is by far yout best video.

“Victory has defeated YOU”

For me it seems like it's the shoes, they have so much grip and bounce. If you land wrong the grip will rotate your ankle and the spring will move you in a way you aren't ready for

Fair point. The next step you should take is to look at similar sports and see if they are injury riddled too. Box Lacrosse was derived from the NBA rule set and a lot of the movement is the same with heavier contact. Interesting to compare the two sports

It would be great to see the correlation between the amount of injuries and the increase in shoe "drop". 70s and 80s basketball players had zero drop shoes, compared to today's shoes that all have heels elevated.

jordan kobe were doing alot of cuts fakes and moves as well and still played, todays game is wear and tear on joints and ligaments yesterdays game was muscle

This man is really on point! From the charts to this. Love your work man, keep it up!

JJ Reddick said it's due to scheduling and not having more than one day break. So they have less back to backs but they also have shorter breaks. That maybe be having the largest effect

It's the no calls near the rim. Basic layups result in the scorers ending up on the floor.

And the Oscar for best mini docu-series goes to… excellent work! 100%

The advent of AAU basketball + regular season basketball has caused modern players to play year round growing up. Guys aren’t truly resting in the offseason. Once they get to the league, the physically demanding nature of the 82 game season catches up to them.

I love these videos... Keep them coming!

I do have a solution for the ankle rolling though. Make players practice in low cut shoes that have rounded edges. The only times I’ve ever rolled my ankles are when I get too used to the conventional basketball shoes. Reason being it assists your ankles a lot in stabilization. So when you do bend your ankles too much, you reflexively end up rolling it as it’s not a familiar angle at which you usually use it. I’m a soccer player and if you’ve noticed soccer cleats they’re pretty rounded so you can use your entire foot to control the ball. You also need good ankle mobility and that translates to my basketball game a lot. I can’t say I haven’t rolled my ankle, but it’s rare and it’s never severe to a point where I can’t play for more than a few minutes.

The injuries have been very strange. The seasons won't turning out how anybody expected. Still, the trades at the deadline are gonna be remembered and impactful for a long time.

My man Loon is up there! He's such an Ironman. Stay healthy big guy!

Definitely think that the evolution of the game is a big factor. So much more space and so much more movement. Absolutely brutal on soft tissue

"money, it's gotta be the shoes!"

The point about reduced normal weight lifting is key. Its not about a shelf life or the earlier start player have now. It's all about the specific muscles players use in their modern skillset. While those muscles are in constant use and are as strong as possible as a result, the neglect to classic weightlifting has made the surrounding muscles not as strong. It doesnt matter if you have a machine with a few gears made out of titanium if there are other gears made of regular materials in it as well, it'll last just about the same as any other.

to me it seems like this coincides with hand checking being removed. so players are able to constantly go at 120% and jump with 150% of there legs strength but hand checking would allow defenders to keep in front and slow down players stopping them from exerting so much explosion every play.

It’s a Great day When Jxmy Uploads ❤🔥

You know it’s the end when he gives the amazing speech.

Makes me realize how strong Russ really is after all these years, regardless of his career trajectory.

You know its a great day when Jimmy uploads🐐

My hypothesis is that it's the shoes. In the olde NBA everyone was wearing the same basic shoes{"chuck's"} a rubber sole with an upper to attach them to your feet. Modern shoes have a void in the sole to cushion landing, but that void would flex during hard cuts {thinking of Zions shoe blowout}. I'm sure that manufacturers have formulated the rubber compounds to provide optimal traction.

Just watching this made me feel so much pain

Small addition, player's weight has also (in decades' terms) been trending upwards slightly. Although it has been stagnating I think since the turn of the millennium. Adding this to higher agility requirements and longer wear and tear the compounded force stress (is that a thing?) does add up quite a bit.

KD getting injured during warmups is still crazy 💀

Just a few factors to consider: long lever arms (taller players playing / defending the perimeter), bigger bodies can develop tendon and muscle load thresholds at a different rate than ligaments, shoes that allow for higher levels of acceleration/deceleration and rotational stress.

An NFL player, Jason Peters, said the only time you get hurt is when you aren't playing 100%. It sort of make sense, because if you're tired or not in the zone to perform at your best, injuries tend to happen. Each step or move you take will be less and less precise. How many players get injured in the first few minutes of a game? I can't recall one. When I look back my injuries, I was either tired or not in proper shape for the muscles in my legs and feet to properly perform at the beginning of the season. I think all other topics mentioned like simple wear and tear may be the biggest factor. But shoes are better than ever and recovery is better than ever. The NBA has become more agile and athletic, no doubt about it, the way they stop and turn on a dime is far more abrasive on their bodies than what was typcially done just 15 to 20 years ago.

My theory is based in footwear technology. I think the grip of shoes improving actually has caused more injury because of the false sense of security as players. Better grip? Then they can move faster and more erratically. I say to give some slide back to force players to be more careful and have more fluid movement.