Shoes Get Close Look in NBA

Foot injuries are a runaway problem in the National Basketball Assn. this season, sending to the sidelines stars such as Michael Jordan, Darrell Griffith, Andrew Toney and Bill Cartwright.

Experts think it’s because they run hard, play hard and sometimes their shoes don’t fit.

“I think the shoe has to be a contributing factor to injuries,” said Dr. Norman Scott, the New York Knicks’ team physician. “It is a difficult problem because nearly all the players have sneaker contracts. It’s hard to specify which are good shoes and which are not.”

The players’ powerful physiques are another factor.

“The size, the speed and the vertical jumping ability of the athletes gets better every year,” he said. “The bigger you are, the more force is placed on your foot.

“Maybe the sneakers aren’t keeping pace. We probably are coming into an era where the players are going to have custom-made shoes,” he said.

Utah Jazz Coach Frank Layden says players are plied with so many free shoes, in return for endorsements, they don’t take time to break them in.

“Some players change their shoes every game. Some do it every two or three games. If they had to pay for them, I guarantee they would make them last,” he said.

“Also, many of the shoes are made in foreign countries, like Korea or Yugoslavia,” Layden said. “I don’t think that’s in the best interest of the players. I think the players would wear sandals if we would let them--even if they were made in Bimini.”

Bob Hansen, a third-year pro with the Utah Jazz who has been subbing for Griffith, blamed tight shoes for the stress fractures he suffered last season and during his sophomore year at the University of Iowa.

Hansen’s right foot is a size 13, his left foot a size 12 1/2. He had been wearing size 12 1/2 shoes on both feet. Now, he wears size a roomier size 13. Not surprisingly, he says, “They give me more comfort.”

But tight sneakers aren’t the only way to wreck feet.

“Some guys, like Darrell (Griffith) and Jordan, jump so high and come down so hard, that it can cause injuries,” Hansen said. “Man wants to fly so high.”

Mark Pfeil, trainer for the Chicago Bulls, Jordan’s team, downplayed the significance of shoes as a major injury factor.

“Several years ago, a number of (foot) injuries were attributed to the shoes, but now the shoes are improved,” he said. “Today, the athletes are running faster, jumping harder and playing all year round. I think that’s taking its toll. I don’t know if that’s causing the injuries. It’s hard to say.”

Among those expected to miss several weeks’ of NBA action because of foot injuries are:

--Jordan, Chicago’s star guard and the the NBA’s Rookie of the Year last season, when he averaged 28.2 points per game. He has a stress fracture of the tarsal navicular of the left foot. Before the injury, Jordan never had missed a game dating back to his days at Laney High School in North Carolina.

--Griffith, another standout guard who was the 1980-81 Rookie of the Year who averaged 21.0 points per game in five seasons with Utah before becoming a free agent after last season. He has a broken fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot, and had a small compression screw inserted into it about two weeks ago.

--Toney, Philadelphia’s outstanding guard who has averaged 17.5 points during the regular season and 18.3 during the playoffs in five seasons with the 76ers. He has a stress fracture of the right navicular, a stress fracture of the tarsal navicular in his left foot and was operated on for two bone spurs in his left ankle last week.

--Cartwright, New York’s 7-1 center-forward, who was the No. 3 pick in the 1979 draft and has averaged 17.9 points per game in five seasons with the Knicks. Last year, Cartwright suffered two stress fractures in his left foot, one while jogging, and missed the entire season.

This year, he re-injured the foot during training camp. The latest injury came shortly after Cartwright signed a six-year, $7.5 million contract with the Knicks. Five years and $6 million of the contract are guaranteed.

“We were all geared for Bill’s return,” Knicks’ Coach Hubie Brown said of Cartwright. “That was a savage blow. It took a lot out of us. It was a one-in-a-million chance he refractures the foot.”

Chris Van Dyke, director of communications for Nike, one of the world’s largest show companies, said that with basketball “becoming more aggressive, the likelihood of foot and ankle injuries is increasing.

“We feel it is not the fault of the basketball shoe.”

But David Craig, trainer for the Indiana Pacers, disagrees.

“Some players go with a shoe whose company pays the most money and does not necessarily have the best shoe,” he said. “Players are wearing incorrect shoes or footwear--perhaps because of greed.”

He said that nearly every Pacers player wears a different brand of basketball shoe.

“The players wear one size shoe in one model, and another size in another model. It’s really hard to fit them,” he said.

“The shoe companies pay so much in endorsements to the players and they don’t ever size them. They just ask them over the phone what size they wear and send them the shoes.”

Ron Murakami, vice president and general manager of Adidas USA Shoe Division, acknowledges that shoes can cause injuries “if they are designed incorrectly.”

“A player needs orthotics in his shoes for good ankle support, to prevent stress on the ankles,” Murakami said. “There is a new material being used for shock absorption in the interior of the shoe.

“We need to control both the forefront and the rear foot. The greatest amount of pressure could be on the heel when a player lands--and that may be a reason for the injuries.”

Adidas has contracts with several NBA players, including Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adrian Dantley, Bill Walton, Kelly Tripucka, Marques Johnson and Mark Eaton.

Nike has some 30 NBA players under contract, including Jordan, Moses Malone, Sidney Moncrief, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Charles Barkley, Purvis Short and Sam Bowie.