SHARE Marc Gasol is assisted off the court by head athletic trainer Drew Graham during the first quarter against the Portland Trailblazers at FedExForum.

By Peter Edmiston/Special to The Commercial Appeal

The bone matters. A bunch.

That's the short takeaway after a look over the last 15 years. As is our wont here at Numbers Game, we'll examine each of the times an NBA player has dealt with any fracture in one or both feet, and try to see if there's anything we can learn with regard to the injury to and prognosis for Marc Gasol.

The human foot is a complicated thing. Each foot and ankle complex comprises 26 bones, meaning that 52 of the 204 bones in the body are located in the feet. As a piece of natural machinery, it is a marvel to see at work, carrying body weight, twisting and turning as necessary, planting and cutting when quick moves need to be made.

It's not surprising that feet and ankles are sources of constant trouble for NBA players. They've got to run quickly, plant and pivot quickly, accelerate, change directions, often have their feet stepped on in the course of a game -- all of these things have the potential to be anatomically problematic for feet. Unfortunately for Gasol and the Grizzlies, he suffered a broken foot, and that has produced a rather cloudy outlook for the next few months.

Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace said, “During the course of this evaluation, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a fracture in his right foot." Here's the problem: The catch-all term "fracture in right foot" in actuality can refer to any number of broken bones at varying degrees of severity, each of which plays a part in the seriousness of the injury, the amount of time needed for full recovery, and the need for and type of surgery.

After a thorough scrutinizing of the NBA's injury history, I was able to locate 43 instances of a foot fracture over the previous 15 seasons. It's fairly common.

FIFTH METATARSAL

The most common type of fracture seen among NBA players over the last 15 seasons has been a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal, with 27 of the 43 cases involving that small, tricky bone.

Looking at the foot, the fifth metatarsal is the last bone on the outside - it's the one that ultimately leads to the little toe. This bone is heavily stressed throughout the course of most normal basketball activities, especially when it comes to changes of direction. And that stress is why the injury is known as a "stress fracture" -- it's a tiny crack in the bone that comes about through repeated use. Grizzlies rookie Jarell Martin has dealt with this injury this season.

In an ideal situation, the stress fracture would occur in the middle of the bone and be small enough so as not to involve any displacement. Historically, those scenarios have been relatively simple to recover from, with players sometimes returning in 4-8 weeks. The preference would be to allow the bone to heal on its own, through immobilization and use of external electromagnetic stimulation to speed recovery.

Should surgery be required, that can complicate things and force a lengthier recovery, though the long-term post-surgical prognosis among NBA players has generally been good. Even in a case like Brook Lopez, who had a broken 5th metatarsal that required three surgeries (one to insert a screw, one to repair the screw, and one to reshape the bone), he eventually got back to a high level, though it took the better part of a year and a half to do.

JONES FRACTURE

The Jones fracture refers to a specific type of fifth metatarsal fracture affecting a very small area of the bone that receives a limited supply of blood, making the healing process more complicated. You may remember that Kevin Durant dealt with a Jones fracture for much of last season. It ultimately cost him 55 regular season games. Though he came back in December of 2014, the Thunder's concern with the screw used in his surgery -- and his discomfort on the court -- meant they asked him to have a bone graft done.

Glen "Big Baby" Davis also had a Jones fracture at the age of 28, one that cost him in the neighborhood of six months of playing time and required multiple surgeries, like Durant's. Both Durant and Davis eventually returned to their previous levels of performance.

MIDFOOT INJURIES

Reports emerged after the Grizzlies' official announcement that what Gasol is dealing with is, in fact, a broken mid-foot. That has not been officially confirmed by the Grizzlies, so we cannot with certainty say that's the injury. From the Grizzlies' perspective, they can only hope that isn't the case, because the history of players, especially big men, with mid-foot breaks is a frightening one.

The midfoot comprises the cuneiform bones, the cuboid, the talus, and the navicular bone. Stress fractures to this portion of the foot aren't nearly as common as those to the metatarsals, but they are more serious and more difficult to recover from. These bones are relatively small and are relatively stable; they don't get a lot of blood flow and any surgical procedure to repair them is invasive and difficult.

In the last 15 seasons, here are the previous midfoot fractures that are in the public record:

QUINCY PONDEXTER

We can start with a former Grizzly. Pondexter, 25 years old at the time of the incident, suffered a stress fracture to his navicular bone early in the 2013-14 season and missed the remainder of the campaign. Pondexter ultimately ended up returning to action and playing well in New Orleans, but has since suffered a knee injury that has sidelined him for this season.

YAO MING

You know about this one. It's not good. Yao had a navicular fracture in his 2008-09 season at the age of 29, and it essentially ended his career. He was on track to be one of the greats, too.

JOEL EMBIID

A former Kansas Jayhawk, Embiid has yet to play a single minute in the NBA after suffering a navicular stress fracture. He has also dealt with a fracture in his back. His career remains very much in the balance.

CARLOS DELFINO

Delfino's injury is officially unspecified, though the nature of his surgeries indicates that he likely suffered a midfoot fracture during the 2013 NBA Playoffs with the Houston Rockets. Delfino was 30 years old and had multiple procedures to repair his foot. Unfortunately for Delfino, in spite of some tryouts, he hasn't played in the NBA since.

BRENDAN HAYWOOD

Haywood was 33 at the time of his navicular stress fracture, playing a defensive backup role for the Charlotte Hornets. The injury occurred early in training camp, and he missed the entirety of the season as a result. He did return the following season in Cleveland, though he played just 22 games.

MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI

The Kandi-man had a tough career. After being the first pick in the 1999 Draft, he never fulfilled expectations. He suffered a broken cuboid bone at the age of 31 as he tried to play a spot role for the Boston Celtics. He never saw an NBA floor again. Given his diminished minutes, it's hard to say whether the injury truly ended his career. Didn't help.

KURT THOMAS

Thomas had a stress reaction in his navicular bone while playing for Phoenix during the 2006 NBA season. A stress reaction is a precursor to a stress fracture. He was held out for the remainder of the season as a precaution and did return to action the next year. He was 33 at the time of the injury and did go on to play six more seasons in the league, though his post-injury minutes were reduced compared with his minutes before the injury. He told the New York Post in 2013 after suffering a stress fracture to the same bone: “I had a stress fracture ... when I played for Phoenix. I thought it healed. I had played with it six years straight and come to find out it never completely healed.’’

ERIC MONTROSS

The former North Carolina standout was 30 years old in 2002 when he suffered a stress fracture in his talus, one from which he never recovered. He retired officially the next season.

ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS

Ilgauskas is the happiest of the midfoot stories, though not without some serious pain. Ilgauskas has famously dealt with major foot issues, one of which was a stress fracture to the navicular bone in his right foot when he was 23. He had three surgeries, and though he missed the better part of two seasons recovering, he went on to have a lengthy and productive NBA career.

CURTIS BORCHARDT

The now little-known Stanford product broke his navicular bone during the early part of his rookie training camp (he also had foot problems in college) and missed his entire rookie season. But, at the age of 23, he was able to return to play a limited role for three seasons before his NBA career ended.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

You have heard the name Bill Walton invoked when it comes to foot injuries. He predates our look at injuries, but his story is well known. The truth is that a midfoot fracture is a deeply scary thing, especially for an older player and a big player. Gasol happens to be both relatively old (just turned 31) and a big man. Historically, the recovery rate for such players when dealing with a midfoot fracture is poor. The sample size isn't big, however, and there's no question that Gasol has shown tremendous recuperative powers in the past.

Still, these comparables will force the Grizzlies to ask difficult questions going forward. Again, without knowing the specifics, it's impossible to make proper comparisons. There is enough evidence, scant though the sample size may be, that it might be time to prepare for some very bad scenarios going forward.

An old saying applies perfectly here: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

