Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 373 - 313: Might as Well Kill Me if I Can’t Dunk

Chen Yu watched Carter quietly.

Carter didn’t speak, his brow furrowed in prolonged silence.

Marcos had also advised him about his jumper’s knee. He’d told him to dunk less. When a layup would do, he insisted on posterizing opponents, which put both them and himself at risk of injury.

But Carter had never listened.

"Chen, is there another way?" Carter asked dejectedly, rubbing his face.

Jumping, finding any way to slam the ball through the hoop—that was his most distinct trademark. It was the source of his passion for the sport.

Chen Yu frowned slightly and countered, "Vincent, I’d first like to ask you, why are you so against dunking less?"

Even if he could cure him now and restore his health, Carter’s current playstyle would inevitably lead to the same problems as he got older.

Moreover, just dealing with his worn-down cartilage and meniscus was no simple task. It would most likely mean he’d be out for the season.

That was already a huge price to pay.

It wasn’t about telling him not to dunk at all, just to cut back on the unnecessary ones. That shouldn’t be an unacceptable proposition.

A man has to accept the effects of aging, even if Carter was only 25 and in his prime.

But had he considered this? He was only 25 and had been in the league for just four years, yet this playstyle was already causing injuries. From a long-term perspective, changing his game was the only logical choice.

It wasn’t just him. After the new season started, Chen Yu had even advised O’Neal to cut back on some of his dunks.

That guy also had a special obsession with dunking. He loved to use his body to plow through opponents and throw down a powerful dunk right over their heads.

It’s not that he couldn’t do it, but a powerful dunk was worth two points, and so was a layup. Dunking less would reduce the load on his knees and ankles, which would help prolong his career.

Of course, O’Neal didn’t listen, and the man in front of him, Carter, was clearly unwilling as well.

Faced with this question, Carter mulled it over with a frown for a long while before finally saying, "Chen, I prefer to play the game my way."

In fact, Carter had already thought about this when Marcos diagnosed him with jumper’s knee and suggested he change his playstyle.

Carter had thought about a lot of things, even why he played basketball in the first place.

Although, like most players in the league, he had a rough childhood—his mother divorced his father early on and struggled to raise him by herself.

But then he met his stepfather, who gave him a complete childhood, a relatively comfortable life, and a healthy, happy upbringing. He even fell in love with music and nearly pursued it professionally.

The reason he gave up music was because he loved basketball more. He enjoyed the process of competing and winning.

But while he loved basketball, Carter wasn’t obsessive about it.

During a crucial playoff moment, to honor a promise to his mother, he endured grueling travel, braving criticism from fans who called him lazy and selfish, just to return to North Carolina for his graduation ceremony.

His love for basketball was simply purer.

You could say he cared less about the outcome and more about the process. He simply wanted to play the game on the court in the way he loved.

That’s why he was reluctant to change. Without dunks, without the feeling of flying through the air, would it still be the basketball he loved?

"Chen, do you understand what I mean?" Carter asked.

He had explained it haphazardly and without much structure, but Chen Yu understood the gist of it.

To put it bluntly, it was a ’give me liberty, or give me death’ kind of sentiment.

’You might as well kill me if you won’t let me dunk.’

Chen Yu said, "Alright, Vincent, let’s say you continue with this playstyle. Then, in your early thirties, maybe just a few years from now, you suffer a career-ending injury like a torn ACL or a ruptured meniscus. Would you still be unwilling to change?"

This time, Carter didn’t hesitate or think it over. He answered immediately, "That’s right. I still wouldn’t be willing."

His gaze was firm.

Chen Yu sighed softly. ’So stubborn.’

However, he might say he’s unwilling now, but once he truly gets older, he probably won’t feel the same way.

But for now, at least, he was unwilling to compromise.

"Alright then," Chen Yu said with a shrug. "In that case, I think we should discuss how to minimize your injuries while preserving your athletic ability as much as possible."

If he wanted to jump, to fly, then let him fly.

What Chen Yu could do was ensure his health to the best of his ability.

And right away, Chen Yu thought of a measure. "Vincent, from now on, you must wear a knee brace, just like Tracy wears a back brace."

Last season, on his advice, Tracy McGrady wore a back brace for the entire season.

The effect was significant. Without Chen Yu’s direct care, he didn’t miss many games due to his back injury all season.

So even after undergoing spinal correction surgery this past Summer, he continued to wear the back brace.

The custom-made soft brace didn’t affect his game much, and once you got used to it, it was perfectly acceptable.

And just like a back brace, a knee brace could provide better stability for the knee, reducing the impact from jumping and landing.

At the mention of Tracy McGrady, Carter’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

In fact, the reason he’d come to Phoenix this time was because after his latest injury, Tracy McGrady had privately sent him a text. It wasn’t long; it just suggested he come find Chen Yu for treatment.

The two had some friction between them, but when faced with a common enemy as great as injury, Tracy McGrady clearly still cared about him.

This brought about a change in Carter’s attitude, and he had come to Phoenix willingly.

"Okay," Carter agreed with a nod, not hesitating much.

Chen Yu continued, "Next is targeted exercise."

Carter’s vertical leap was naturally world-class, and his Achilles tendon was said to be very long. So, if he wanted to make himself less prone to injury, targeted training was essential.

After a moment of thought, Chen Yu said, "Vincent, have you ever noticed that you jump off two feet more often? This leads to an issue: you have to bend your knees quite a bit to lower your center of gravity."

Chen Yu was familiar with Carter’s playstyle.

After all, for the past two years, you couldn’t watch a top-ten plays or highlight reel without seeing one of his explosive dunks.

Carter paused, then shook his head. He really hadn’t noticed that problem, or rather, he hadn’t paid attention to something so detailed.

So Chen Yu simply opened his laptop, went online, and found some highlight reels of Carter’s dunks, as well as some of Jordan’s.

"Your vertical is probably similar to Michael’s. But look closely. When Michael dunks, isn’t it more sudden and subtle? He barely bends his knees and just explodes upwards."

Chen Yu paused and slowed down the video for a side-by-side comparison.

He had spent the entire Summer working in the sports lab, mingling with top-tier trainers like Nelson, discussing and researching human anatomy and training. Chen Yu could now speak on these topics with effortless expertise.

His mastery of the system’s knowledge in the field of Sports Training had skyrocketed.

Carter watched it over and over again. Even Stenberg was peering curiously from behind them.

"It does look that way. So what?" Carter asked.

Chen Yu casually picked up a nearby skeletal model and said, "When you bend your knees too much, your patella travels a greater distance, and your tendons stretch more intensely. If you reduce the knee bend, the travel distance shortens, and the pressure on your tendons naturally decreases."

"Don’t underestimate this subtle difference. When you jump a thousand times, ten thousand times, that difference becomes huge. That’s why you need to strengthen your core—your waist and abdomen—and your calves."

Carter’s dunks felt explosive and ferocious because he had a very obvious wind-up, and his body was fully extended.

Jordan, on the other hand, was different. He might blow past you with one step, and on the next, he’d leap into the air without any visible effort, hanging there for what seemed like an eternity. That’s because his core strength was so powerful he didn’t need to bend his knees much to jump effortlessly.

Carter had a look of sudden realization, his expression pensive. Then, he said with utmost seriousness, "Chen, you are unbelievably professional."

There were many professional trainers, but someone who could integrate training and medicine so perfectly and then analyze the problem like this? Chen Yu was probably the only one.

Chen Yu waved his hand. "I’ll create a specific training plan for you once you’ve recovered from your injury. And it’s not just about training; you also need to pay attention to your diet, especially your weight. You have to understand that gaining even a single pound significantly increases the pressure on your knees."

"And as you said, if you want to play for many years—say, 15 years, like your jersey number—you’ll need to control your diet and be extremely self-disciplined."

Carter nodded repeatedly.

In just these few short moments, Chen Yu had completely won him over with his professionalism.

At this point, Chen Yu paused for a moment, his gaze falling on Carter’s shoes.

"These are your first signature shoes, right?" Chen Yu asked.

Carter nodded. The ones he was wearing now were indeed his first-generation signature shoes: the Nike Shox VC 1.

"Chen, what’s wrong with the shoes?" Carter asked, a little confused.

Chen Yu didn’t answer right away, thinking silently.

In reality, aside from his playstyle and physical condition, his frequent injuries also had a lot to do with his shoes.

For instance, being prone to twisting an ankle or knee—especially non-contact strains and sprains like the one Carter had at the beginning of the season—could be related to excessive traction on the shoes.

Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "I remember these shoes use Nike’s Shox technology, right?"

Carter nodded.

When he entered the league, he had a shoe endorsement deal with Puma. But Puma was a smaller brand with less advanced technology, so he eventually terminated the contract.

Then, at the 2000 Olympics, Carter wore the first shoes to feature Shox technology, the Nike Shox BB4, and completed his famous "Dunk of Death." This caught Nike’s attention, and they signed him to an endorsement deal.

Then, last season, they launched his first signature shoe.

"Chen, is there a problem with my shoes?" Carter asked again.

Chen Yu shook his head. "That’s not what I mean. It’s just that I remember the design philosophy behind Shox technology is similar to a car’s shock absorbers. Its columns act like springs to absorb impact and provide rebound. But I think, just like a car’s shock absorbers, they need a long range of motion to provide better cushioning. So, isn’t the heel on your shoe too high?"

A high heel naturally means a higher center of gravity for the shoe.

As a result, the probability of losing balance and tilting upon landing increases, which in turn makes ankle and knee sprains more likely.

So, in Chen Yu’s view, this was another hidden risk.

Carter looked down at the shoes on his feet, and his expression changed abruptly. He had never considered this possibility.