Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star, Jarrett Allen, revealed the severity of his rib injury that curated backlash and kept him sidelined through most of the postseason during Cavs media day on Monday.
“I couldn’t sleep right. You roll over, you wake up with pain in the side. It didn’t finally go down until two weeks after the season. It’s just pain for the whole time you try to do anything, so I mean now I’m fine and I’m fully recovered. It was just a rough couple of months.”
The injury occured during Cleveland’s first round playoff series with Orlando Magic when Orlando’s Franz Wagner reportedly “pierced” Allen’s rib with his elbow resulting in serious pain that continued to increase.
The Cavaliers listed the injury as a rib contusion during the season, causing a lot of heat to come Allen’s way, including one of his former teammate Marcus Morris.
"If you put me in that same position, 'do I play?' Yes," Morris said on FanDuel Run It Back. "I can't say how his body felt. Orlando was a physical series so I wasn't surprised he didn't come back in that one, a little surprised about the Boston one."
Of course, Allen laughed off Morris’s comments saying it takes a lot more than that to get under his skin, “It’s understandable. Like it said you don’t understand until you go through it.”
It wasn’t until after the season ended that President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman confirmed Allen actually suffered a broken rib.
“I think that definitely contributed to the skepticism of the injury, " Allen said about the injury being listed as a contusion. “Now that it’s out, looking at the CT scan you can still see the piece of bone that's still floating in my body somewhere.”
The center emphasized his desire to be on the court through the post-season and said that if he was able to play, he would have played barring any injury.
Allen confirmed that he’s fully recovered since and ready to go for the season knowing he has a lot to prove. “There's a big chip on my shoulder. I want to prove I'm still the player that I am, that I'm still going to be out there every night trying my hardest and making an impact,” said Allen.
A big season for Allen but also the franchise, with first year head coach Kenny Atkinson trying to pick up where the team left off last year and push them further into the postseason. The pair have already worked together during Allen's career in Brooklyn when Atkinson was the head coach.
It’s been four years since the pair have worked together, but the center is thrilled to get another chance with Atkinson, this time apart of the Cavs.
“I think the most exciting part is seeing how much we’ve grown going separate paths and finally coming together to put our heads together to make this team better.”
