Grizzlies' Desmond Bane undergoes surgery to repair fractured big toe

Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane underwent surgery Tuesday to repair his fractured big toe, the team announced. The surgery, which addressed the fracture of the medial sesamoid bone in Bane's right big toe, was successful and he is expected to be fully healed and healthy for the 2023-24 season.

Bane fractured his toe back on Nov. 11 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, just 13 games into the season. He missed the next 17 games, but returned on Dec. 23 and played out the rest of the season.

Bane averaged 21.5 points, five rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 47.9% from the field in 58 games played this season. All were career highs, and nearly 80 percent of those games were played on a fractured big toe.

An injury like that, to a part of the body that keeps you upright and helps direct and launch you into action, is not a small thing to deal with. It forced Bane to change his sneakers during the season. Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Bane had to stop wearing Paul George's signature shoe after the injury, and switched to LeBron James' signature shoe because it didn't aggravate his toe as much.

"They got a stiff bottom, a wider shoe, so my foot is not really condense," Bane told the Commercial Appeal in January. "It doesn't really bother my toe or the bottom of my foot, so it's been a good match."