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CHICAGO — The Milwaukee Bucks left Florida disappointed Nov. 11. For the first and only time so far this season, they dropped consecutive games, losing both games in a two-game road trip; first, a 126-124 loss against the Indiana Pacers, then a defeat to the Orlando Magic.
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On top of that, they also lost one of their most impactful bench players.
During the third quarter of their 112-97 loss to the Magic, veteran forward Jae Crowder asked to be taken out of the game and headed straight to the locker room after scoring one point in just 17 minutes of action. Before the Magic game came to an end, the Bucks reported Crowder would miss the rest of the game with left groin soreness. Two days later, the team announced that Crowder would undergo left adductor surgery and be sidelined for approximately eight weeks.
Crowder was one of the Bucks’ biggest bright spots to start the season. After a disappointing first season following a trade deadline deal that brought him to the Bucks, Crowder had seemingly regained much of the form he had while with the Phoenix Suns from 2020-22. Crowder, 33, was playing 26.7 minutes per game for the Bucks and hitting 53.2 percent of his shots, including 51.6 percent of his 3-point attempts, on his way to averaging 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Before the Bucks went on their most recent two-game road trip to Miami, Crowder returned to the court to start doing individual work. Before the Bucks’ Thursday loss to the Bulls, he was still sweating from a workout with the Bucks’ training staff when he agreed to speak with local reporters in a hallway of the United Center about his initial injury, his surgery, his rehab, his timeline and more.
(The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)
You were the one that pulled yourself off the court in Orlando and went straight to the locker room. So, what happened in Orlando that night?
Well, this situation has been going on since camp. I’ve been dealing with this all year, and I just felt like I took a wrong fall in Orlando and I was probably like, all right, I need to do something about this, and I got an MRI. I was pushing off the medical staff all year about getting an MRI because I felt like I could play with it up until I couldn’t. The MRI showed what it showed and it showed what I felt, which was a partial tear in my groin. So, I wanted to get that handled. Glad I caught it early enough too. Then I stopped trying to play through it. I had played through it since training camp.
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During the preseason, you told me how much it meant to you to hit the ground running and put in a strong training camp and preseason. How hard was dealing with an injury like this in a season you really wanted to be on the court and make a better impression?
Yeah, I didn’t know how long this injury would keep me out if I was to do something. So, gathering the knowledge of what I needed do about the procedure that I had and the time I caught it, I think I was OK with it. I think if it would’ve kept me out pretty much all year I’d be very, very upset, because I knew I worked my way back to where I want to be and I’m very confident in myself and my work. Once I gathered the information through the medical team, I was able to really calm myself down, first of all, and look forward to this task at hand which was a procedure and rehab.
Looking back on your career, you haven’t really missed a whole lot of games because of injuries. What has it been like for you to be off the court and rehabbing from an injury?
It’s a test of your mental capacity, just honing rehab and not trying to look to far ahead. I don’t look backwards in life at all. I only look ahead. I think once I put my mind to what I need to work on and work toward, I’m OK. My girl was just asking me on the way here, how is your mental? I swear to God she just texted me that. I’m very good. My circle is good, my people, my family is helping me. Our PT and our medical staff here is doing a great job with me every day.
I know I’m probably trying to overwork this thing, but they keep me where I need to be mentally and physically I’m just putting the work in. I think my mental was definitely tested early with this whole process sand now I’m at a good stage; the guys are playing well, we’re getting W’s, no one’s panicking. I’m just eager to get back and continue to build with the team and hopefully ride it into the playoffs.
When the team first announced the injury, Bucks coach Adrian Griffin told reporters that he still felt like you’d be able to serve an important role for the team, even while injured, because of your presence and leadership. How have you gone about trying to make an impact?
Use my voice. I think Coach Griff had a message for me when I was going through surgery, ‘You didn’t have surgery on your vocal chords.’ That’s what he said. Just telling me that the group needs my voice. I missed the Washington-Boston trip, but every trip after that, I’m going to be on, and I feel like my voice is going to be helpful for our group still, especially those young guys. And I’ve been doing a good job of just trying to help them, tell them what I see and listen to those guys and try to help those guys as much as possible. So I’m definitely using my voice right now.
You mentioned how you were trying to push yourself during training camp, even with the injury, earlier in our conversation. Did getting ready to play NBA basketball with this injury set you up to recover well from this injury?
I was thinking that already myself. I was thinking like, ‘In camp I’m hurt. What if I had to miss some games due to this?’ Because it was bothering me a lot. I was like, ‘I’m going to up my conditioning to where it needs to be leading up to the season.’ And I felt like my conditioning was where it needs to be. I was able to play back-to-backs. I’m good. I felt great. It was just a groin injury, and it was hit or miss. Some days, I’m good. Some days, I really feel it. And it was an up-and-down roller coaster.
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I felt like I was pushing myself for a stoppage at some point. Not this long. I didn’t expect it to be eight weeks, I’m not going to lie, I was thinking a few games, but I think I’m where I need to be. Physically, I’ll be fine. I’m pushing myself, still working on my cardio. I’m on the treadmill now. I’m just taking it one day at a time, but I think that was in the back of my head a little bit, I can’t lie and say it wasn’t.
Does eight weeks still feel like the correct timeline?
That’s the goal right now. That’s still the goal.
If you miss that much time, you would be off the floor until roughly the start of January. I haven’t done the math, but I’d guess that probably gives you 50 or so games to get yourself ready for playoff basketball. Does 50 games feel like enough games to get yourself ready?
Exactly. That was my main thing once the medical staff put it on the board for me and let me see it. I was like, ‘I still got 50 games if I don’t come back in a rhythm to get myself in a rhythm. And if I don’t come back where I need to be with my conditioning, I have 50 games to get myself there.’ But I feel like I’m doing everything I need to do to check those boxes to somewhat hit the ground rolling once I do come back and not ease my way into it.
We saw you getting some individual work done at shootaround the other day in Miami (Nov. 28). Was that your first on-court work?
That was the second one, honestly. First one was before we took off. And then the second one was what you saw.
How good does it feel to actually be on the court again?
Great. That helped me a lot too. When I touched the ball, I was like, ‘All right, I’m getting close. I’m not too far behind.’ I’m 14, 15 days post-op, and I feel great.
(Photo of Jae Crowder: Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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