Los Angeles Laker’ point guard Lonzo Ball suffered an inversion (inwards) sprain of his left ankle during the third quarter of the team’s eventual overtime loss to the Houston Rockets (sorry for the reminder). After MRI testing, the medical staff revealed that Ball’s injury was a grade 3 tear, and set his return timetable as four to six weeks.
After the timetable was announced, I heard consternation about the relatively short timeline considering the severity of what’s commonly referred to as a “complete rupture” of the ankle ligament. However, not all grade 3 tears are complete tears, and the return-to-play timeline depends on key factors which decide the true overall severity of the injury.