Nassir Little Details 'Super-Rigorous' Rehab and Return From Hip Fracture

Little is set to play after missing the Trail Blazers' last 21 games.

PORTLAND, Ore. — On Sunday night, the Trail Blazers are getting one key reinforcement back. Nassir Little, who has missed the last six weeks and 21 games after suffering a femoral head impaction fracture in his right hip, has been activated and is set to make his return.

Head coach Chauncey Billups said pregame that Little will be on a minutes restriction as he ramps up. He was cleared for contact earlier this week but has not gone through a full practice yet.

In the locker room before the game, Little and I discussed his rehab from the hip injury and his process for getting back on the court. That conversation is below.

How was this rehab process?

"It was fairly simple, just because it was a bone. For the first two weeks, it was just staying off of it. I did a little bit of soft-tissue stuff, but there's nothing you can really do besides letting the bone heal. After two weeks, I kind of started doing some mobility, lifting weights and all that type of stuff. And then at four weeks, when I was able to get back on the court, it was just ramping up. Conditioning, lifting, shooting, things like that. It was pretty straightforward."

I heard your two-week ramp-up leading up to now was pretty intense.

"It was super-rigorous. Pretty grueling. No days off, just day after day running, core, lifts. It was pretty tough. But the results came quickly."

How much did it help you in this process having gone through a couple of other long-term injury rehab processes in the last year?

"I definitely think after getting injured, you know how to navigate certain things. Like anything, you kind of learn how to handle it. How to stay sharp on your diet, that kind of stuff. You understand the conditioning and how you're going to feel as you get back into the swing of things. You know how to ease yourself and work your way up through things. You learn about your body more and how to communicate how you feel. I was definitely more aware this time around."

Which of your three big injuries—the shoulder, the core muscle, this hip injury—was the worst to deal with day-to-day?

"You can't really compare it. [The shoulder] was quick. The surgery hurt more than the injury itself. With [the core], I was playing with it. I guess that one, because I was playing with it for some months. I was playing through it, so it was a lot of waking up the next day like, 'Damn, that hurts.' I guess the core was the worst of the three."

How much of the six-week timetable for this injury was you pushing to get back, and how much of it was the training staff?

"The six weeks was the initial plan. The rigorous ramp-up was established before I even got to the four weeks, so I knew that was what it was going to be. Technically, I was re-evaluated at two weeks and I was re-evaluated again at four weeks. And then I got another MRI at six weeks. So I was re-evaluated three times, technically. But the soonest I would have been able to get back on the court was six weeks, regardless of what the situation was."

Six weeks seems like not very much time to miss with a hip fracture.

"It was a really small fracture. It was just a little crack, a little line in the bone. I was pain-free walking after about three days. It was non-displaced. And where it was, it wasn't receiving pressure when I walked. It was pretty chill. I was on crutches for two weeks. As long as I didn't go play a game on it, stay diligent with the crutches and stuff like that, they knew it would heal."

How excited are you to get back out there?

"I'm super-excited, bro. I'm tired of wearing sweatsuits on the bench. Even just doing layup lines and stuff with the team is exciting. I'm excited to get back into the swing of things."

At the beginning of the season, you were a little rusty coming off the other surgeries, but the last few weeks before this injury you looked like you were closer to the way you were playing last season. How long do you think it will take for you to get back to that level?

"I don't know. I don't put no pressure on myself. Take it day by day and see how I feel."

As we were wrapping up, Gary Payton II walked into the locker room, heard Little saying he doesn't put pressure on himself, and shouted, "That's a lie!"