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Jarrett Allen Shares Details on Rib Injury That Has Kept Him Out of Action for Cleveland Cavaliers; DETAILS Inside
Jarrett Allen's fitness is giving nightmares to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the big man has opened up about the injury that has kept him out of action for long.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' unsung hero in their first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic was Jarrett Allen. But in the fourth game of the first round playoff series, Allen broke his ribs. Allen sustained an injury that continued to be a source of controversy, causing him to miss the next eight games during the playoff run.
Fans and even his former teammates called Allen's integrity into question. The ambiguous language and the fact that Allen was consistently marked as "questionable" rather than "out" encouraged further conjecture in the months that followed. However, Allen finally corrected the record during Cavs Media Day.
“I think that definitely contributed to the skepticism of the injury,” Allen said. “With rib injuries, you don’t understand how bad it is until you go through it—looking at the CT scan, you can still see the piece of bone that’s still floating in my body, it was definitely a worse injury than people thought.”
During his recovery, Allen talked about how hard it was for him to sleep and even to lift his arms above his head. Regardless of how others felt about it, he was simply unable to compete at playoff intensity due to his injury, as much as it killed him to be out of the game.
“I feel like I’m very sure of myself; if I was able to play, I would play,” Allen said. “It’s understandable [why people were skeptical of his injury], but it takes a lot more to get under my skin.”
In the 2023–24 campaign, he also enjoyed one of his best regular seasons ever, averaging a career-high 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game. Playing 77 of Cleveland's 82 regular season games, Allen demonstrated his extreme durability. He takes great satisfaction in his toughness, which Allen hopes to further exploit by participating in all 82 games as we approach the 2024–25 season.
That is a possibility now that he is well again. Reuniting with former head coach Kenny Atkinson, who coached Allen during their time together in Brooklyn, is beneficial for Allen. The Cavs' primary goals under Atkinson are to shoot more threes and play faster. Allen is open to spreading the floor even though he is more than comfortable playing faster basketball.
