The phrase “out indefinitely” has been in the sports-injury vernacular since time immemorial, though its meaning and use is, at times, purposefully obscure.
The definition should be straightforward, but just like with anything in a competition, sometimes things aren’t always as clear as they should be.
The phrase “out indefinitely” — along with its kin “probable,” “doubtful,” “questionable,” and “day-to-day” — has been around for decades as a way to qualify the status of an athlete after they suffer an injury and to set a likelihood of whether they will play in the upcoming games. “Out indefinitely,” as the phrase suggests, was originally coined to announce that the injury the athlete suffered was significant and would thus miss a significant amount of time, though a specific amount could not be determined due to a number of factors.
However, over the years, the phrase “out indefinitely” has often been employed in a number of different ways, each with its own purpose. For example, the Toronto Raptors recently announced that three of their key contributors — the All-NBA caliber Swiss Army Knife Pascal Siakam, defensive stalwart Marc Gasol, and 3-point sniper Norman Powell — would all be out indefinitely after suffering musculoskeletal injuries. Powell’s injury is the most concrete of the three, so let’s discuss what “out indefinitely” means in his case first.
Powell suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder during a win against the Detroit Pistons. A subluxation injury falls on the dislocation spectrum and involves the glenohumeral — or ball-and-socket — joint of the shoulder; this injury can essentially be thought of as a partial dislocation, meaning that the glenohumeral joint did not have to be reduced (i.e. the shoulder did not have to be put back into place). Dislocation spectrum injuries can ultimately involve a number of anatomical structures and injuries including bone fractures, rotator cuff strains, ligament sprains, labrum tears and cartilage damage. Since a subluxation is a partial dislocation, these injuries are often less severe and may not involve significant damage to the shoulder joint.
In regard to Powell’s injury, the phrase “out indefinitely” is likely true to its definition; there are many variables involved with his injury and, thus, the healing and recovery timeline is more opaque. Any structural involvement beyond the glenohumeral joint capsule — the conglomeration of ligaments that help provide stability to the shoulder joint — can prolong the recovery processes. Additionally, subluxation injuries — unless they are a recurrent issue — rarely require surgical intervention and with the individual variability in healing rates, what may be a two-week injury for one athlete may be a six-week injury for another.
Gasol’s injury is also relatively straightforward and likely true to the literal definition of “out indefinitely.” As I have written about elsewhere, hamstring strains can be difficult to set a specific return-to-play timeline for because each one is like a snowflake; they all recover in their own unique ways. The hamstring muscle group plays a key role in producing force for powerful movements such as sprinting and jumping as well as assisting with decelerating the body following powerful movements. This means that the hamstring muscle group is almost constantly firing, which places a great amount of strain through the muscles.
The recovery can be slow as the hamstring muscle group needs to be able to both absorb as well as disperse a significant amount of force over a prolonged period of time. Because of this, hamstring injuries frequently recur and are often handled on a day-to-day basis (An aside: An athlete being listed as “day-to-day” is a watered-down way of saying that they are “out indefinitely”; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Shabazz Napier was considered day-to-day by their training staff with his hamstring strain earlier this season and he ultimately missed four weeks).
Siakam’s injury is more nebulous. The Raptors announced that Siakam would miss an indefinite amount of time with a “stretched groin”; to be blunt, this is not a medical diagnosis. In all likelihood, Siakam suffered a groin strain, which often heals in a similar fashion to that of a hamstring strain; the groin is a group of muscles known as the adductors, which are located along the inner thigh, from the pelvis to the knee. By concealing the exact diagnosis and reporting that Siakiam’s injury would require him to be “out indefinitely,” the Raptors were able to veil the severity of his injury.
It doesn’t take much effort to realize that this obscurity provides a mild competitive advantage to Toronto in the short-term. By neglecting to term the injury a “groin strain,” it is truly unknown when Siakam will return to the court, making game-planning ever so slightly more troublesome for opposing teams; he may return in one week, though it ultimately may also be closer to four.
“Out indefinitely” has become a way for the NBA, and sports teams in general, to not only imply that an athlete has suffered a significant injury with an unclear recovery timeline, but also to gain a competitive edge over their opponent, however slight it may be.