“First-Time Dislocations Take Longer to Return”: Veteran Sports Orthopedist Provides a Disheartening Update on Hunter Dickinson Just Before March Madness

Published 03/19/2024, 1:55 AM EDT

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The Kansas Jayhawks are all set to begin their March Madness campaign when they take on Samford in their Midwest round 1 game on March 21 in Salt Lake City. However, a shoulder dislocation of their star center, Hunter Dickinson, cast some dark clouds on their fate at the moment. Recently, a thorough analysis of Dickinson’s shoulder damage was done. Unfortunately, the results aren’t looking very promising for Kansas fans.

Basketball analyst Jeff Goodman further evaluated Dickinson’s injury with popular sports Orthopedist David J. Chao. Providing his input on the subject, David said, “Here’s the deal. My assumption is it’s a first-time dislocation on his right shoulder. He is right-hand dominant. This is a big deal. First-time dislocations take longer to return because there is more damage. Second and third time, less damage. We’ve done analysis on him.”

Following this, he explained the results of his analysis to Goodman and added, “Not sure if he’s going to play. And even if he does play, his numbers in effectiveness might be in the 50% range.” 

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The towering athlete suffered from this unfortunate dislocation during Kansas’ 46-76 loss against Houston. The incident happened when he was trying to get a hold of a deflected ball off the rim while countering Houston’s Cedric Lath and senior forward J’wan Roberts. Soon after, he was sent for an MRI for further diagnosis.

Meanwhile, head coach Bill Self has hope that his talented No.1 will soon return to the court while sparing some thoughts on his injury-stricken squad.

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Bill Self speaks on the absence of Hunter Dickenson and Kevin McCullar Jr.

After their humiliating defeat against the Cougars on March 10th, Bill Self provided his insights on losing his two key players, Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. on the brink of March Madness. Interacting with the media, he said, “I don’t feel great about the big picture, only because I don’t know what our health situation is. Guys, if we had our five guys and they’re all lined up and they’re healthy, we can play with anybody. But we’re not right now. So hopefully we’ll get a good report on Dickinson, and hopefully, McCullar will start feeling better. And if that’s the case, our outlook will be different than it is right now.” 

The road just got tougher for Bill Self and his boys. The absence of two of the most impactful players in the locker room will be problematic for Kansas in the opening rounds of the tournament. Moreover, with every game being a knockout, they will not be getting a second chance if they don’t play their cards right from the very beginning.

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Do you feel that Hunter and Kevin will recover in time? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

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Written by:

Shahryar Fazal

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Shahryar Fazal is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports. His specialisation lies in his scrupulous Live Coverage of the events like NCAA and WNBA tournaments. A former sportsman himself, Shahryar used to contribute stories for publishing houses like TOI before taking up American sports as his field of interest.
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Edited by:

Pragya Vashisth