The report found that injuries affecting the knee, calf muscle and ankle accounted for most of the time-loss from injury in the NBL
The National Basketball League (NBL) has released its first injury report, undertaken by Edith Cowan University (ECU) researchers, revealing that most player injuries were of the muscle, tendon, joint or ligament injuries at or below the knee.
The injury report, which was undertaken by the Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute at ECU, found that injuries affecting the knee, calf muscle and ankle accounted for most of the time-loss from injury in the NBL.
While the frequency of concussions is relatively low compared to other contact sports, with only eight recorded in the 2023/24 season, and nine concussions reported in the 2024/25 season, the incidence is not negligible, said ECU post-doctoral research fellow Dr Myles Murphy.
"Our analysis of the data revealed a surprising insight - factors like a player's age, height, weight, or even their position on the court had no significant impact on their risk of injury. This challenges some common assumptions and highlights the need to focus on other potential risk factors, such as training load, recovery practices, and game intensity."
The inaugural injury report has also revealed that despite the apparent protective effect of match exposure, players who attain at least 600 minutes of match exposure may be at risk of tendon injury.
"The data showed that once a player had accrued over 600 minutes of match exposure, they are essentially bulletproof, with only one injury reported in the entire league across both the seasons to an athlete with more than 600 match minutes," Dr Murphy said.
He noted that the data compiled in the injury report could help to inform injury prevention in the NBL.
"If we want to prevent injuries in the NBL, and limit time-loss from injury, our prevention efforts can be targeted towards muscle, tendon and ligament injuries at and below the knee."
The injury report will be updated annually, and future iterations will include more detailed data, such as the injury mechanisms, as well as data from the WNBL.
