By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Tofas Bursa point guard Tyler Ennis is the latest guest of the BCL Diaries and breaks down key moments of his career. The talk shifts to a fracture on his ankle which he suffered in 2018 during his time with Fenerbahce and another season-ending ACL tear in 2020, and the way he overcame both to return to top-level and form again.
“I didn’t really know what was going on, I knew something was wrong down there, I felt the pain. It wasn’t until I looked at everyone else and saw their faces, when [I realized] there was something wrong” Ennis tells BCL about his ankle fracture.
“The doctor ran out and everything. I didn’t want to look and I asked, “is it broken?”. He gave me a chuckle like “you have no idea what it looks like down there”.
Then an ACL tear struck in November 2020 while he was playing for Turk Telekom. “What do I have to do? I had people saying ‘we’re gonna fly you home, we’re going to do this. And I was like I don’t have to think about anything. I just have to show up to rehab”, Ennis says teary-eyed. “I never really talked about it, honestly. My initial thoughts were just… the worst”.
“Kamar Baldwin [Turk Telekom teammate], I never spoke to him after that, but he wasn’t playing that game because of injury and he was with me the whole time. I think in those moments you just feel alone. Having him there, I think he was just hugging me and had his hand on my shoulder. Having someone there… And then the next day I was back to normal. You kind of let yourself have the night, sorrow, be sad about it and then I was like we have to do this to get back to where I want to be. So you know, you kinda just lock in and you don’t have to feel bad about yourself”.
Despite the severity of the second injury, Ennis didn’t consider retirement as he mentions. Instead, he turned things around to return to action healthy and motivated.
“I never really understood the severity of my broken leg because I went home and I was like “let’s get back to work”! I think it helped me honestly, off the court more than on the court,” he says. “It could have ended my career twice”.
“But I’m playing in 2022”, he says with a smile. “Medicine is crazy and I’m able to get back and better than I was before. I have a bright future still. I have a lot of years to play, hopefully, win some championships. Now that I’m healthy and playing. I’m taking it day by day, year by year, excited to be back obviously”.
Check out the full BCL Diaries feature below:
Photo credit: Basketball Champions League