Talen Horton Tucker’s thumb injury, explained

Los Angeles Lakers young, talented wing Talen Horton-Tucker picked up a thumb injury in pre-season that has been diagnosed as a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament. He underwent surgery and is set to be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.

In the following video, I analyzed the injury by explaining what it is, the likely surgery, when Horton-Tucker might be back (and there’s some good news on this front due to a new surgical technique that’s become more prominent in recent years), key goals of his rehabilitation and the overall outcomes of this injury (aka prognosis).

Although of course not ideal for THT — especially early in the season with a new team that is building chemistry and cohesion and for a player who was really looking to take that next step forward this season — there’s still a lot of season left for him to continue his growth and develop into the promise and role that the Lakers envision for him.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 4 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.