The Basketball Doctors

The Basketball Doctors USC-trained Doctors of Physical Therapy specializing in elite basketball performance & ACL recovery. 🏀 Helping you get back to 100%

03/25/2026

Ankle sprain rehab
Train the brain
One of the key things that are missing with ankle sprain rehab is training the brain!
The brain is the missing piece when it comes to a lot of injuries especially ankle sprains for Proprioception!
Here is one drill e like to use with our athletes following ankle sprain!

🏀 Did you know female basketball players are 3× more likely to tear their ACL than males? And that game day makes you up...
03/24/2026

🏀 Did you know female basketball players are 3× more likely to tear their ACL than males? And that game day makes you up to 8× more likely to get injured than practice? 🚨
Swipe through this research breakdown from a landmark 2023 meta-analysis of 30 studies, 3,567 ACL injuries, and 20,049 ankle sprains in basketball players 👇
Here’s what every athlete, coach, and sports PT needs to know:
✅ Female athletes carry dramatically higher ACL risk at every level
✅ The higher you compete, the higher your injury risk
✅ Most ACL injuries happen WITHOUT contact — they’re PREVENTABLE
✅ Recurrent ankle sprains account for up to 75% of all ankle sprains
💡 The research is clear: targeted prevention, proper warm-up, ankle support, and working with a sports physical therapist CAN reduce your risk significantly.
📍 Ready to protect your performance? Book an in-person or online session with our team — link in bio!
💬 COMMENT BELOW: Have you ever had an ACL injury or ankle sprain? Were you in practice or a game when it happened? Let us know! 👇
📌 SAVE this post so you can share it with your team, coach, or athletic trainer!

03/24/2026

Golden state warriors Moses Moody tore his left patellar tendon! He will be out for the season and potentially next season as well

03/24/2026

NBA Injury Alert
Golden state warriors
Moses Moody
Patellar tendon tear
Moody tore his patellar tendon going up for a dunk he will be out for the season and most likely next year as well. Previous players that have had this injury include Victor Oladipo and Andre Robertson.
This is a tough loss to Golden State Warriors who already down with Steph curry with his knee issue

03/23/2026

March Madness Sweet 16 Injury Update

03/23/2026

March madness, college basketball Suite 16 injury update we have players from UConn Huskies basketball and Purdue ! The players will be game time decision for this week

03/23/2026

March madness Suite 16 injury update. We have key players from Iowa State and Duke basketball. These players will be gametime decision for the game on Friday.

03/22/2026

March Madness
Purdue Injury alert
CJ Cox injured his knee while doing a euro step!
What do you guys think he injured?
I think it’s ACL let us know what you guys think?

03/21/2026

March madness injury update
Iowa state Joshua Jefferson
Iowa State superstar Joshua Jefferson sprained his ankle and was not able to return back to the court.
This is a huge blow to Iowa State as he is their best player and the ankle sprain did not look good most likely will take them out for at least a week
What do you think of Iowa State’s chances now that their superstar is injured?

03/20/2026

Following ACL reconstruction surgery one of the most important things you should be doing is dual task training which involves training your brain during the return to sport process

⚠️ Had ACL surgery and your knee still won’t fully straighten? You need to see this. 👇This is called Cyclops Syndrome — ...
03/19/2026

⚠️ Had ACL surgery and your knee still won’t fully straighten? You need to see this. 👇
This is called Cyclops Syndrome — and it’s one of the most underrecognized reasons athletes end up back in the operating room after ACL reconstruction.
Here’s what a study of 3,633 patients found (Delaloye et al., AJSM 2020):
🔴 Extension deficit at Week 3 post-op = 2x increased risk 🚨 Extension deficit at Week 6 post-op = 8x increased risk
The good news? It’s preventable. Prioritizing full knee extension in your first 6 weeks of rehab is the single most important thing you can do to avoid this complication.
💡 Swipe through all 10 slides to learn: ✅ What Cyclops Syndrome actually is ✅ Why your brain shuts down your quad after surgery (AMI) ✅ The exact rehab windows you need to hit ✅ What your PT should be doing — and what you should ask for
👇 Comment “CYCLOPS” below and we’ll send you our top rehab tips for restoring full knee extension after ACL surgery.
📲 Want a personalized plan? DM us or tap the link in bio to book with our sports PT team — in-person or online.
Reference: Delaloye JR, et al. Knee Extension Deficit in the Early Postoperative Period Predisposes to Cyclops Syndrome After ACL Reconstruction. Am J Sports Med. 2020.

03/19/2026

Breaking down the medical side of Cade Cunningham’s injury. The news just dropped that Cade has a left lung pneumothorax (collapsed lung) following that collision with Tre Johnson. While the official word is a re-evaluation in 2 weeks, as a PT, I’m looking at the physiological timeline for a safe return to elite-level cardio.
Key Takeaways:
• The Mechanism: Blunt force trauma (like a knee to the ribs) can cause air to leak into the space between the lung and chest wall.
• The Timeline: Re-evaluation at 14 days is just the first step. To get back to NBA-level conditioning, we’re likely looking at a 4-6 week window to ensure full lung expansion and zero risk of recurrence.
• Playoff Impact: With the postseason starting mid-April, the clock is officially ticking for Detroit.
What’s your take—can the Pistons hold onto that #1 seed without their floor general? 📉

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The Basketball Doctor’s Story

Our names are Gabe Ignacio and Marco Lopez, and we are a team of physical therapists who aim to provide evidence-based rehabilitation to optimize movement for basketball players of all skill levels. We will empower the community by presenting fundamental knowledge relevant to injury prevention and performance enhancement, as well as, training for athletes with the goal of enjoying basketball for life. As avid basketball players as children, the love for the game continued to grow throughout our lives from watching the game being played at all levels to attending basketball camps to going through the ups and down of our own basketball journey. We each experienced numerous injuries and set-backs, which exposed us to the realization that our childhood dreams of playing in the NBA was not a realistic goal, among other key factors. As a result, we re-evaluated our goals and focused on our education, which led us to becoming Doctors of Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California. We noticed that there was not a big presence of a place for people to access information on basketball specific injuries and recovery. Equipped with our attained knowledge throughout our educational careers, we wanted to combine our passions for healthcare, movement, biomechanics, and basketball to provide a platform of information and care. Although playing basketball for a career is no longer the driving force of staying connected to basketball, we hope to make a positive impact on the game we love by helping and collaborating with anyone involved in the basketball community to meet a common goal; whether it be making the high school/collegiate team, playing in weekly recreational leagues for life, or optimizing movement and skills to play recreationally and professionally.