{"id":33845,"date":"2025-11-09T14:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T14:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/33845\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T14:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T14:30:15","slug":"cam-thomas-hamstring-injury-could-be-tricky-nets-should-use-caution-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/33845\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Thomas’ hamstring injury could be tricky, Nets should use caution: doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nets have said Cam Thomas\u2019 injured hamstring could be re-evaluated in as soon as three weeks<\/a>. But a specialist that spoke with The Post said it could be twice that long before the guard is playing again, and cautioned a recurrence is possible.<\/p>\n

Thomas was forced out of Wednesday\u2019s game in the first quarter with what was termed left hamstring tightness, and the Nets announced Friday that he had a left hamstring strain that would be evaluated in 3-4 weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously frustrating being hurt with anything \u2014 whether it\u2019s an ankle, a foot, whatever the case may be. Nobody wants to be injured,\u201d said Thomas, 24. \u201cBut I\u2019m not really concerned about it. I\u2019ll be back in no time, so I\u2019m not really upset or concerned. It\u2019s just unfortunate. But good thing it happened earlier this year, so you can get on top of that and be back as soon as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The injury is unfortunate for Thomas and the Nets. First, it\u2019s the same hamstring he hurt three times last season that essentially ruined his campaign, limiting him to just 25 games.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynBrooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) looks on in the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center, Friday, Oct. 24, 202 Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Now, Thomas \u2014 who opted to play on a one-year $5.99 million qualifying offer and is headed for unrestricted free agency \u2014 has strained it again.<\/p>\n

As is their wont, the Nets declined to reveal the severity or grade of the injury, though sports medicine specialist Dr. Kenton Fibel from Cedars-Sinai Orthopedics in L.A. told The Post that a Grade 2 injury sounded more likely \u2014 and that Thomas\u2019 past history could lead to future complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly people that have had prior hamstring injuries in that specific area will sometimes form more scar tissue than normal muscle tissue, so it can be a more of a weak spot to lead to further recurring injuries,\u201d Dr. Fibel told The Post. \u201cNot all the time. These can heal well, and just depends on the severity of the ones last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow this one, you would expect a Grade 1 injury on average to maybe be a week or two, vs. more of a Grade 2 injury can be more 4-6 weeks. So if they\u2019re recommending to reevaluate him in 3-4 weeks, they probably think it\u2019s more on the side of at least closer to a Grade 2 injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Fibel, who is the medical director for the NHL\u2019s Anaheim Ducks, acknowledged each case is individualized and hard to predict, and there are different factors that can lead to increased risk of hamstring woes like gait, nutrition or muscle imbalances (in the hamstring, quad or other leg).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s working with the team dieticians to look at any dietary things and adequate hydration, looking at his overall warm-up routine,\u201d Dr. Fibel told The Post. \u201cAgain, the weakened muscle, if the injury happens in the exact same area of that tissue, may be a little bit weakened.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if it\u2019s in a different area of the hamstring, then that\u2019s where all these things collectively you\u2019re looking at to see if there\u2019s any ways to alter the risk moving forward of these hamstring injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brooklyn Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (L) looks to put up a shot over a defending Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (R) in the first half at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

While a three-week span puts the Nets at the Black Friday tilt vs. the 76ers, that sounds overly ambitious and could take several more weeks. Dr. Fibel praised the Nets for their caution, but said Thomas\u2019 history and need to ramp up would likely mean another couple weeks even after he gets a clean bill of health.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the fact it\u2019s earlier in the season and his injury history, I think it\u2019s appropriate to take a more conservative approach with him, as [a] star player for the team,\u201d Dr. Fibel told The Post. \u201cWith really any of these athletes that\u2019ve had prior injuries, our goal is to return the player at a high level, but without an increased risk of injury as best as we can. So I think it\u2019s prudent what they\u2019re seeming to be doing with this injury with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you feel that it has appropriately healed, then you begin a return-to-play progression. That may be another couple of weeks from that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nets have said Cam Thomas\u2019 injured hamstring could be re-evaluated in as soon as three weeks. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,355,99,11480,21,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-33845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-cameron-thomas","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}