Warriors’ Moses Moody sees ‘clear path’ ahead after patellar tendon surgery

SACRAMENTO –  Moses Moody had no idea he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee when he went up for what would have been the game-sealing dunk in the Golden State Warriors’ OT win over the Dallas Mavericks.

“It didn’t hurt when it happened,” Moody recounted of the fateful, potentially career-altering moment after the Warriors’ 124-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings, in his first media availability since undergoing knee surgery.

“I thought Cooper [Flagg] ran from the backside. I thought we just bumped knees a little bit or something…. But when I looked at [my knee], [that’s] when I knew that it was something. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was something. I thought it was maybe like dislocated or something, and they could pop it back in, and I’d be alright.”

Moody’s words trailed off. It’s not an easy memory for him to recount and remember. The gruesome sight of looking down at his torn right knee. Pained and anguished reactions of his teammates, coaches, and the Mavericks. The silence of the arena as every single person whispered a quiet prayer for him.

Moody has rewatched the play a couple of times since living through it; it’s only natural, given the virality of the replay. But in his own words, Moody’s not big on social media, so he is not fixated on what happened. If anything, it’s the opposite. For as horrifying and devastating and heartbreaking as this injury was, Moody is facing this misfortune head-on.

With optimism and hope.

Moses Moody’s approach to recovery

There’s a reason why Moody’s teammates all used the words “wisdom” and “maturity” when describing the human behind the basketball player. Especially in the wake of his injury. And that sage-like approach to life truly came to the forefront when Moody explained how he’s approaching his recovery.

“I feel good,” Moody said with a smile as he leaned against his crutches. He insisted on standing while fielding questions instead of sitting in a chair.

“It’s a unique time in my life being able to kind of slow down. Being in an NBA season, ripping and running, doing so much, traveling so much. So being able to slow down, sit down, have a routine, get better at some stuff, talk to my family, talk to a lot of people on the phone all the time. Now, being intentional with my time, I’ve enjoyed it.”

It was hard to believe these were the words coming out of a 23-year-old’s mouth. Moody is only a couple week removed from reconstructive knee surgery, for an injury that will sideline him for 9-12 months. An injury that derailed an upward trajectory in a season where he was playing his best basketball.

Even the way Moody viewed the timing of the injury sounded like a monk who’d found enlightenment.

“My knee has been bothering me for a while. From middle school to high school, it’s all been patella tendon. “So, I’m glad to finally get it fixed,” Moody explained. “And coming back, I think I will be able to be in a better place than I was when I left because of [the surgery].”

To Moody, the injury was an excuse to address the issue. An excuse, he explained, to retrain his body and his movement patterns in the recovery process. Not a setback but an opportunity.

Injury timeline moving forward

Moody doesn’t have a set timeline for his recovery; he’s still in the earliest stages of rehab with the big full cast and brace around his knee. But the good news is that the knee injury, while being a long recovery, the tear was clean and the surgery was “easy.”

“What they told me was, for a patella tendon tear, this is a best case scenario,” Moody explained. “It being clean from the bone, a clear tear. If it was not, and just tendon to tendon, that’s harder to make it heal and be stronger. With it being from the bone, they can connect it to the bone, and that’s just a better way to do it.”

The next step for Moody will be to begin setting goals and checkmarks to hit, not too dissimilar to what his teammate Jimmy Butler is going through with his ACL rehab. Right now, the next steps are to try bending his knee a little more and to activate the quads. Baby steps on a long road of recovery.

“I’ve been talking to my man, John Doerr, about OKRs,” Moody grinned, referencing venture capitalist Doerr’s famous self-growth book Measuring What Matters. Just another reason why the Warriors call him a monk in a 6-7′, 23-year-old’s body.

Moody will undergo most of his recovery in the Bay Area, while spending some time back in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s already been helpful for him just to be back around the team and feed off the positivity of the organization.

So all-in-all, Moody’s approaching his long recovery with optimism and hope. He can see through the dark forest that there’s a path back to where he wants to be. Even if it’s windy and full of thorns.

“I feel good,” Moody repeated. “Sometimes you talk about optimism, and I don’t know. It’s like– I feel good about the future. I see a clear path, and just following that, I think, is the task here.”

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