Despite making his return already in the Memphis Grizzlies camp after a lengthy absence from a grade 2 sprained right big toe and sesamoid injury, Desmond Bane made it known that he won’t be that fully capable of performing this season.
In his guest on J.J. Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast, Bane revealed that he won’t be 100% fully healthy this 2022-23 campaign, as his sesamoid in the toe is still in two pieces.
“That’s something I’ll probably have to get taken care of in the offseason,” Bane said on the podcast, via Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal. “You never know how much you need to use your big toe until you can’t use it.”
Bane has missed 17 games for Memphis and only made his return last Dec. 23.
With injury set to continue to linger, the third-year pro opted to make a change in his footwear. Prior to the huge unavailability he had, he was wearing Kyrie Irving and Paul George’s signature shoes. But since he made a return last month, Bane adapted and is now using the LeBron 20 – described by Nike as the lightest shoe on their sneaker partnership slate with LeBron James.
“They’ve been good,” Bane said about the LeBron 20s. “My toe has been holding up. They got a stiff bottom, a wider shoe, so my foot is not really condense. It doesn’t really bother my toe or the bottom of my foot, so it’s been a good match.”
This year, Bane is averaging career highs in points (21.4), boards (5.1), and assists (3.9) while shooting 44 percent from the field.
