Speaking on the popular local New England sports radio show “Toucher and Rich” Thursday morning, Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge shared that star forward Jaylen Brown has been dealing with tendonitis in his knee for some time, setting off alarm bells with Celtics fans already dejected from losing three of the team’s five games in their annual West Coast road trip.
“We’re concerned,” said Ainge, perhaps stating the obvious. “Jaylen has tendonitis in his knee.” No stranger to the issue himself, the former Boston shooting guard related his own experience with tendonitis. “I played 14 years with tendonitis in my knee, it flares up, it just comes and goes.”
Danny Ainge to @Toucherandrich: "Jaylen Brown has tendonitis in his knee" https://t.co/Fcb6jm8ogs
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) February 11, 2021
While it should be stressed this is by no means good news, it’s also not necessarily dire news, either.
Tendonitis and tendinopathy are scary-sounding blanket terms for inflammation of a tendon and related muscle groups often related to overuse, lack of flexibility and several other factors, well-studied in medical literature going back many years before Ainge’s time as an athlete.
But what is tendonitis, exactly?
Danny Ainge tells @Toucherandrich that Jaylen Brown is playing with tendonitis in his sore left knee. Says there are no long-term concerns with it that he is aware of but the team will keep close tabs on it.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) February 11, 2021
The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine’s Kyle Goerl M.D. and Robert Dimeff M.D. published a definition for both in a recent article for “Sports Medicine Today,” which reads as follows:
“Tendinopathy” is a catch-all term used to describe the conditions of tendonitis (or “tendinitis”) and tendonosis. Tendinopathies are injuries that occur in tendons, which are structures that attach muscle to bone. Tendonitis refers to an acute inflammation of the tendon, which usually lasts for a period of 10 days or less.”
Tendonitis in younger people is usually treated with rest, and can range from a mild annoyance to severely debilitating; it all depends on the person dealing with it, how badly it flares up, for how long, and how they respond to treatment.
The interesting thing about Danny Ainge saying Jaylen Brown has tendonitis in his left knee is that Brown wasn't on the injury report for tonight's game. And this was after Brown saying he could feel soreness at the end of the Utah game on Tuesday. Has to be a day-to-day thing.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 11, 2021
In younger people, that’s usually rest, ice and other non-invasive treatments when it isn’t severe and there aren’t longer-term concerns.
Ainge related that he doesn’t expect long-term concerns with Brown’s knee he is aware of, but “it doesn’t mean it’s good — we’re concerned about it.
So, this doesn’t mean Brown’s career, season or even ability to play at a high level are necessarily significantly impacted, though it will be something to monitor closely going forward.
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