Sixers use a ‘ramp-up’ process for the healing
While awaiting his next NBA destination as January turned to February, Kyle Lowry’s personal trainer put him through daily at-home cardio workouts. But the veteran guard acknowledged it was impossible to “emulate actual game play,” from sprinting back on defense to executing offensive sets.
So when Lowry made his 76ers debut on Feb. 22 against the New York Knicks and then immediately rested for the following night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, coach Nick Nurse described the approach as the “initial ramp-up thing.” When that phrase was repeated back to him in a follow-up question, Nurse quickly quipped that he was simply using the terminology used by the athlete care staff.
Because, to outsiders, it can all feel a bit abstract. What is this mysterious ramp? How long is it? And where exactly does it lead?
“Ramping up” refers to a deliberate, gradual, personalized course of action for a player — based on loads of data and an array of benchmarks they must accomplish before moving on to the next phase — to most logically determine when they are ready to return to playing in games.
“That’s their job,” said veteran forward Nico Batum, who recently completed his ramp-up following what he called the first hamstring injury of his career. “I know my body, so it’s constant communication.
“They’re good at what they do, so it’s just finding a good plan for me to get back on the court.”
Some followers of the Sixers may have initially caught on to the phrase when it was applied to former star guard James Harden, who, after stepping away from the team during the preseason, was seemingly “ramping up” until he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. Yet the phrase is still relevant months later, with multiple Sixers players currently at different stages of their individual ramps.
The 37-year-old Lowry is reconditioning after not playing from Jan. 22 through Feb. 22, when he was traded from the Miami Heat to the Charlotte Hornets and then bought out of his contract. Reserve wing Robert Covington, who has been nursing a knee bone bruise since early January, has a goal of returning to on-court activities in the next 7-10 days, according to an official update from the Sixers Wednesday. Guard De’Anthony Melton — an example that even the most thoughtfully executed plans can hit setbacks — has instead begun an “offloading” period before restarting a ramp-up. A spine issue that had sidelined him for the better part of two months resurfaced three games into his return last week. And reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid is now one month post-meniscus surgery, and soon hopes to be on that path to return before the end of the season.
The Sixers’ ramp-up programs are helmed by Simon Rice, Vice President of Athlete Care, who did not speak to The Inquirer on the record for this story.
In general terms, however, building such a plan is tailored to the type of injury, and to a player’s specific demands during a game. NBA teams constantly measure players’ average and maximum physical metrics — such as how many feet they run, or how much power they exert while jumping — during on-court minutes. The overall ramp-up goal is to exceed those numbers before fully returning to live action, making predicting success more objective than guesswork.
The initial expected timeline is crafted based on experience with similar ailments, and player factors including age or injury history. That estimate can also be affected by the point of the season, such as if the injury occurred in the middle of January or the middle of the playoffs. But certain criteria also must be hit before advancing to the next step. A calf injury, for example, may require a player to hit close to their personal marks in jumping power — and body symmetry — before shifting to on-court work. For a hamstring, it might be getting up to their maximum velocity while running in straight line.