Many people do not have a proper understanding of the medical status of T.J. Ford. This is mostly due to natural preconceived notions about athletes who suffer an injury and/or undergo serious surgery and also go through an extended period of time when they cannot practice or play their sport. The media has done nothing to dispel such preconceived notions, and at times they are in fact guilty of reinforcing such notions. Reporters such as ESPN’s Andy Katz are beginning to do reporting that will help educate the public on this issue, but it has been too little too late so far.
First, let’s begin with some basic premises. Contrary to popular (and unfortunate) belief, TJ Ford has no physical limitations (as a result of either his injury or surgery) on his abilities and skills that he employs on a basketball court. None. Zero.
The only risk to T.J. Ford is that on the extremely slim chance that the surgeons improperly performed the surgery AND continually improperly analyzed x-rays of the area that the surgery was performed on (which would apply not only to Los Angeles Spine Surgery Institute’s Dr. Robert Watkins, but also to the other three specialists from Charlotte, Indiana, and Dallas who served as outside independent consultants)… TJ risks either paralysis or death should he suffer a similar hit/fall that he suffered on 02/24/04. Not only have these 4 specialists staked the credibility (and liability) of themselves (and the institutions they represent) on the fact that they gave TJ full clearance for full-contact basketball, but medical history of anyone who has had TJ’s circumstances supports their certainty.
The most important obstacles that TJ has had to (and will have to) overcome are mental obstacles. He MUST not play scared and he MUST overcome any fear of contact if he is to be the same player as he was (or a better player than he was) before. So far the evidence has shown that this is not a big concern at this point, but judging his ability to overcome the mental obstacles is still subjective and much different from examining his physical status. In the past, TJ never altered his style of play or played scared, despite having a stenosis related incident in high school, and also an incident his sophomore year in college. The most recent and severe incident (02/24/04) is clearly viewed differently by TJ and of course he also finally chose to have corrective surgery to prevent future incidents from occurring. What we have seen (and heard about) from TJ since the time he was allowed to start working out again through the time he was cleared for full-contact basketball, through Summer League practices, and through today, is that he is DETERMINED and NOT AFRAID. Whether he remains not afraid once the regular season starts and he faces the highest level of competition again is something that will have to be answered by TJ with what he shows us in those first few games. I am completely optimistic on that front, but I cannot give any assurances on that like I can give regarding his medical status.
The other obstacles that TJ has had to (and will have to) overcome are indeed physical obstacles. But they do not have anything to do with the injury or surgery really. They just exist because TJ had to sit out so long. Because he had to sit out so long without being able to do his normal exercises even, he lost about 10 pounds by not being able to maintain his muscle mass through his normal exercises. His overall conditioning was naturally not even close to what it was back on 02/24/04. Being “out of shape” like this happens to a lesser extent to almost every NBA player during the offseason (one reason why training camp and the pre-season are important). Obviously TJ’s being “out of shape” was to a much greater extent, an extent similar to any other player that had to sit out an extended period of time after an injury or surgery. Unlike most of those other players though, once TJ was fully cleared, he didn’t have to “go easy” on a leg, ankle, etc. just to be safe. TJ was allowed to start getting back into shape at “full speed ahead.” The workouts and training he has been going through (particularly with John Lucas) seem like something out of a Rocky movie. TJ has until November to get his strength and endurance back to where it used to be. That is PLENTY of time. Much more time than necessary, in fact. If TJ puts in the necessary work, he’ll get there (the same can be said for any NBA player when it comes to strength and conditioning work).
Before getting into more specific technical details about TJ Ford’s medical status, I think it is easier to understand TJ’s medical status if you consider the following example.
Imagine that you have an antiques cabinet (left to you by your late grandmother) filled with porcelain collectibles. Your antiques have always been fine. A huge truck can zoom by the road right in front of your house, and while you can feel the vibrations in your house, your antiques are never in any danger of being damaged because the vibrations would have to be MUCH more severe to damage your antiques. Imagine a severe shockwave (such as occurs during an earthquake). Now you notice that parts of your collection were damaged during the earthquake. You are able to determine that your cabinet was too small to properly house your collection, and during the earthquake the collectibles vibrated into the edges of the cabinet and sustained damage. To prevent this from happening again, you purchase a new cabinet with the proper amount of space to house your collection without the risk of earthquake damage. The same severe shockwave will now not damage your collection, as they will have enough space for vibrations to move the collectibles without them bumping into anything and sustaining damage.
The difference between the collectibles in that example and TJ’s spinal cord is that the damage to the collectibles has to be repaired: the collectibles won’t repair themselves. The injury (which was a contusion or “bruise”) to TJ’s spinal cord repairs itself, just like most bruises do.
The other thing you may be thinking of in relation to the earthquake example is that the collection will never be safe from harm because there could be an even MORE severe earthquake that would surely damage the collectibles. This is true, but such an earthquake would damage ANY similar collection. This applies to TJ’s spinal cord in that a severe enough hit/fall WILL damage his spinal cord. But that same severity of hit/fall would damage the spinal cord of ANYONE. TJ is of no greater risk than any other player who suffers a blow with the same proportional (to their size) severity. TJ’s problem was that his antiques cabinet (his spinal column) was too small to give his collection (spinal cord) enough room to have the vibrations of a severe earthquake (hit/fall) move it without bumping into the edges (vertebrae) of the cabinet (spinal column) and damaging his collection (spinal cord). To avoid having this problem in the future, TJ had his cabinet (spinal column) widened to give him the proper amount of space for his collection (spinal cord). As a result of the widening process (cervical vertebrae fusion), TJ’s cabinet is also more structurally sound than people who just started out with (were born with) wider cabinets (spinal columns) to begin with.
Now for more of the specific technical details about TJ Ford’s medical status:
TJ Ford had congenital cervical spinal stenosis. Congenital refers to the fact that he was born with the condition. Cervical refers to the upper (or neck) area of the spine. Stenosis means “a narrowing.” Congenital cervical spinal stenosis means that TJ Ford was born with a spinal column that was too narrow to properly contain his spinal cord without risking injury to the spinal cord in the neck area of the spine. Such an injury to the spinal cord would result from the spinal cord coming into unnatural contact with cervical vertebrae (the bony segments composing the spinal column). Such contact can cause a simple “pinching” of the spinal cord, which would cause someone to temporary lose feelings in some areas, particularly in some of their extremities (arms, legs, hands, fingers, etc.). If the contact is forceful enough, it can cause the spinal cord to be severed, resulting in paralysis or death. Less severe (but still VERY severe) contact (as described above) causes a spinal cord contusion (a term for bruise often used to denote seriousness).
