Anthony Edwards only played 17:33 in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ surreal 112-96 Game 4 victory over the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs.
Just before halftime, he soared through the air to attempt to block Nuggets forward Cam Johnson on a fast break. As the ball danced on the rim and fell through the net, Edwards landed on his uninjured left leg, and his knee inverted and hyperextended, causing him to writhe in pain under the basket. Minnesota’s medical staff quickly escorted him off the court without putting any weight on his affected knee.
At this moment, Wolves fans held their breath about the injury. Fans on Twitter saw images of Edwards leaving the arena in a wheelchair after halftime. Later in the game, the Wolves informed fans that Edwards would not return.
Then nothing.
Minutes turned to hours as Sunday morning ticked on before Shams Charania posted the update. Edwards had suffered left knee hypertension and a bone bruise.
First, let’s cover the hypertension, because that’s the more straightforward injury to talk about. Hypertension occurs when a joint is pushed past its range of motion. For Anthony Edwards, this occurred when his knee bent backward. It’s one of the most common injuries in sports and is a terrifying feeling. Specialized nerves, called proprioceptors, in the knee send signals to the brain indicating that the knee is no longer properly aligned. That can feel like the knee has exploded while the body figures out what’s wrong.
Thankfully, for most people with hypertension, the immediate pain subsides quickly and is left with a duller throbbing ache. In the preceding hours, it’s not uncommon for the knee to swell and buckle when walking on it, as blood flow rushes into the joint and overstretched tendons heal.
Because there was no mention of surgery, this realistically means it was a less severe case of hypertension, which typically heals in a few weeks. The most common treatment for hypertension is RICE. The acronym stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation of the knee. People also take pain medication to manage the aching pain that can occur in the hours following the injury and can linger for weeks. However, the best treatment is to just stay off the knee and manage the swelling.
On the other hand, the bone bruise is more complicated. Bone bruises most often occur in high-impact injuries where a bone knocks against another or a tendon or ligament fails, like in an ACL tear. The bone bruise occurs inside the bone. Without getting into the weeds, it’s very similar to a bruise on an arm after a person bangs into a doorframe.
Small fractures in the blood vessels or membranes inside the bone cause bleeding. Because it’s inside the bone, the bleeding has nowhere to go, and the injury can be extremely painful, especially when putting weight on the knee. Imagine someone punching that bruised arm, from both sides, with every step. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean the bone is broken; it just means there’s bleeding from broken vessels inside the bone.
Because the bone has no way to relieve the pressure, the pain continues until the bleeding and swelling inside the bone are gone. That can be an arduous process because the trauma is contained entirely within the bone, whereas a skin bruise has muscles, vessels, and surrounding tissues to help reabsorb the blood. With a bone bruise, the reabsorption process can take much longer.
It also means the recovery time is much murkier, because everybody is different, and not all bruises are the same. After it is diagnosed with an MRI, less severe bone bruises can heal in just a matter of weeks, while others can linger for months and even up to a year. The treatment is similar to that of hypertension and includes our favorite acronym, RICE.
Bone bruises can get worse the more it’s used, just as a surface bruise gets bigger the more it’s punched. That means the rest portion of RICE is arguably the most important. Most bone bruises can also benefit from immobilization with a brace and physical therapy to prevent the knee’s range of motion from being compromised by rest and immobilization.
Anthony Edwards has displayed superhuman levels of healing, which have benefited him in his recovery. His age and baseline physical health also suggest a faster recovery. The Wolves will need Edwards back to make a championship run. However, their 3-1 lead over Denver will give Edwards a little time before the need to play reaches its peak. For Wolves fans, though, they will have to do the same thing as Edwards and hurry up and wait.
