Understanding Ja Morant’s Posterior Hip Subluxation

• Post By: Jeff Stotts
• Date: November 9, 2024
• Category: NBA, Understanding...

The 2024-25 season has been one mired by injury. While injury rates remain on par with seasons past, the total number of games lost to these injuries are proving more costly. Through nearly three weeks the total number of man games lost to injury or illness is outpacing previous seasons by 100 games. The numbers will likely increase after the top two picks of the 2019 NBA Draft, New Orleans’ Zion Williamson and Memphis’ Ja Morant, were ruled out indefinitely with hamstring and hip injuries, respectively.

Williamson’s injury is a left hamstring strain, a common injury in the NBA, but one that has been problematic for the Pelicans big man. Williamson missed 46 games during the 2022-23 season with a right hamstring strain that was aggravated during recovery. He bounced back last season, playing in a career best 70 games before straining the opposite hamstring in New Orlean’s Play-In Tournament win over the Lakers. The injury held him out of the team’s first round series with the Thunder that ended in a sweep.

The latest injury is an unfortunate setback after Williamson reportedly spent the offseason focused on his health. The recovery for a hamstring strain can be difficult to navigate as the muscle can be easily irritated or aggravated during the intricate healing process. Furthermore, prior injury is considered one of the major risk factors for future injury. The Pelicans have ruled out Zion indefinitely, suggesting they understand this process and plan on taking a conservative approach with treatment. 

In Memphis, Morant has suffered a more significant and considerably less common injury. On Saturday the team announced Morant suffered a “posterior hip subluxation (without dislocation) along with associated Grade 1 pelvic muscle strains” in the team’s win over the Lakers on November 6.

The main joint of the hip is the acetabulofemoral (AF) joint. The AF joint is a ball-and-socket joint formed by the head of the femur (the ball) and the acetabulum (the socket) of the hip.

This design allows for a high degree of mobility. However, extra mobility often equates to less stability. To offset some of this tradeoff, the hip is equipped with a specialized ring of cartilage known as the labrum.  The surrounding muscles and several ligaments further reinforce the joint. However, if enough stress is applied to the AJ joint it can be forced out of alignment.

A joint that comes out of alignment can be classified as a subluxation or a true dislocation. A subluxation is considered a partial dislocation and is often brief and temporary. A true dislocation occurs when the joint completely separates. A dislocated joint often requires assistance to return to its normal alignment. 

Morant suffered both intra-articular and extra-articular injuries to his hip when he fell.  The strains to the pelvic muscles of the area are considered extra-articular and likely occurred when the hip subluxed. The subluxation is classified as intra-articular and is the more worrisome issue. 

Morant’s injury occurred posteriorly, meaning the femur subluxed backward. Posterior movement is the most common type of hip subluxations and dislocations. The primary concern with an injury of this magnitude is any associated damage to the labrum. If the labrum is compromised, the stability of the hip could be a problem moving forward. A 2022 study of hip injuries in the NBA showed that intra-articular hip injuries are more likely to require surgery and come with a longer return-to-play timeline.

Looking for other NBA comparisons is hard as this is the first injury of its kind in the InStreetClothes.com/SMART database. Players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Wilson Chandler, and Isaiah Thomas have all endured hip labral tears, but their issues were chronic in nature and not the result of a hip subluxation or dislocation. Looking at football provides better examples of injuries more comparable to Morant. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a hip dislocation while at Alabama and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick sustained a hip subluxation in 2021. Fitzpatrick attempted to rehab the area but ultimately underwent surgery to address the issue.

Morant is currently considered week-to-week but the Grizzlies will likely continue to evaluate his injury in the coming days. Hopefully the amount of associated soft tissue damage is minimal, and Morant will be able to return following rehab and non-surgical treatment. The injury is just the latest setback for a Memphis team that has been plagued with health issues over the pas two seasons. Last year the team missed a league-high 523 games to injury or illness. Oddly enough Morant was a major contributor to those numbers after suffering a shoulder subluxation and an associated labrum tear that required surgery.