Purpose
The goal of this study is to characterize quadriceps tendon injuries over 30 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons and assess the effects on player performance upon return-to-play.
Methods
Partial and complete quadriceps tendon tears in NBA players between the 1990-91 and 2021-22 seasons were queried from a publicly available database. The primary outcomes were changes in player performance statistics obtained from each player’s preindex season and first two postindex seasons. These inter-season changes were compared to the changes of a healthy control cohort. Each injured player was matched with two controls using position, career length, and win shares by season. The secondary measure of this study was the rate of return-to-play.
Results
Nine quadriceps tendon tears (6 partial, 3 complete) were identified in NBA players. Seven (78%) of the players returned to play in NBA games, missing 50 ± 30 games and 214 ± 112 calendar days on average. Comparisons between these player’s preindex and first postindex seasons revealed significant declines in games played (73.2 ± 6.6 vs. 41.8 ± 10.8, P = 0.009) and minutes per game (27.2 ± 2.9 vs. 23.0 ± 3.7, P = 0.042). When compared with controls, only the decrease in games played was significant (-31.3 ± 7.6 vs. 1.4 ± 8.2, P=0.004). These findings were consistent when comparing preindex and second postindex seasons (games played: 79.6 ± 1.9 vs. -28.4 ± 5.4, P=0.006; minutes per game: 29.3 ± 2.6 vs. 51.2 ± 4.6, P=0.003). All other player performance metrics including player efficiency rating (PER) returned to near-baseline levels in the first two seasons after injury.
Conclusion
NBA players with quadriceps tendon tears return to play in 78% of cases. These athletes achieved preinjury levels of performance within 1-2 seasons, but with reduced games played per season.