Tearing your ACL is never an easy process to go through. It seems like this day and age more and more people are tearing it one way or another. I just had attended the Knicks vs. Heat game yesterday and poor Baron Davis tore his ACL, along with his teammate Shumpert and our last year’s MVP Derrick Rose. Some people may think oh well you can just rehab and everything will be just fine but there is a lot more that goes into it. In the past there have been multiple big time athletes who have torn their ACL. Take for instance Tom Brady and Tiger Woods. How do they occur some may ask? The most common mechanism of injury is non-contact and caused by cutting. You're running along, you plant to change direction, and your knee buckles. The next most common is a contact injury such as being clipped from behind in football and hockey. A skier can also tear an ACL when the ski catches awkwardly in the snow or the carving of the ski twists the leg. That was the case for Baron Davis last night as well as Tiger and Shumpert. Now remember how I said that it is tough to come back from a tear. Not only are you sore and have to push your body harder than you have ever before, but you also have to get your timing back, your confidence back, as well as your mental psyche. ACL surgery is extremely technical. A millimeter difference here or there can have a huge impact on the result. The procedure is something that needs to be performed by an experienced sports orthopedist -- someone who performs the surgery two or three times a week rather than two or three times a year, someone's who's familiar with the injury, its mechanism, and the demands when you return.T his used to be a devastating injury. When an ACL tears, it does not heal. Unlike most other ligaments, the ACL never has the opportunity to mend due to its position and role in the knee -- it's very much like a rubber band. That's why this is a forever kind of injury, you will always have to deal with it and fight through the pain, but are you willing to? How to prevent this awful injury is the “$64,000 question.” How long do you need to take away from the game usually? Six months is the benchmark. Some physicians say nine; some say a year. It definitely is not easy but it definitely is possible. I am safe to say as of now that I have never torn my ACL and never would I want to. I feel so much for all the athletes who have but I envy you all because you all are tougher than anyone I know of. I would never wish this injury upon anyone but then again I know that every true athlete can get through this terrible injury.