Here’s Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain on the emotions he felt while dealing with injuries as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers (meniscus tear in left knee/UCL tear in right thumb).
(via Oklahoma City Thunder):
“When I first got hurt — that was like the first time I ever really got injured in a major way — and it was shocking. It was pretty shocking to my body, and to my mind, especially. And [I] almost didn’t really know how to handle it. I talked to my psychologist especially a lot during that time, and a lot of it was just giving myself grace through the process. There’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs. There was a lot of ups and downs with my rehab. And that’s natural, but it’s hard to fathom that when you’re trying to get through it and you think you’re doing everything right. So, I think the main thing for me was just giving myself grace. It was hard seeing other people last year succeed when I felt like I could do so much more. It ended my season short. And then going into this season having my thumb injured right when I got cleared, it was heartbreaking. I remember I pulled over right when they told me. They called me about the MRI and they told me I think my UCL was broken or whatever, and just cried.
“It was like the worst feeling ever. But I knew in the back of my mind it was gonna be okay. And no matter what happens, I know it’s gonna be okay. And I think having that mindset, not feeling like the world is ending when you’re in those low points. Actually in chapel today, they were saying how when you’re at your weakest, that’s when you’re really at your strongest cuz that’s when you really have to show that you have strong faith in yourself and God and everything around you. And I think that’s what carried me through the whole thing is being able to just stay consistent with my process, stay consistent with my routines, and trust the people around me, my support system there for me. I knew everything was gonna be okay, and it’s brought me to a lot of highs and being able to stay consistent and stay even-keeled through the lows as well cuz it’s gonna come. It’s natural, but being able to stay consistent and just have fun throughout the process. I try to have fun no matter what it is, and this team really helps bring it out of me.”
