Matisse Thybulle Happy to 'Be a Basketball Player Again'

📍TUALATIN, Ore. — Matisse Thybulle hasn’t played in a game for the Trail Blazers this season, but he’s been busier than ever.

“I’ve been so much busier being injured than I was when I was playing,” Thybulle said Friday, speaking to reporters for the first time since media day last September. “Rehab takes so much longer, and then if we have any kind of team event, my day was twice as long because I’m doing something on the front end and the back end. So I haven’t had as much downtime, and the downtime I do have is a necessary part of the recovery. When you’re injured, you’re busy.”

It’s been a long journey for Thybulle to get here, to be able to play again. During training camp, he underwent a minor procedure on his right knee to reduce inflammation, which was expected to keep him out four weeks. He was slated to be cleared to return in one of the Blazers’ two back-to-back games in Houston on Nov. 22-23; in a pregame workout in Oklahoma City on Nov. 20 during that same road trip, he took a step towards the basket and landed wrong on his right ankle.

The damage was much worse than he could have imagined.

“I’ve talked to so many people about it now, and the overarching sentiment is that with ankle sprains this bad, sometimes it’s better to just break it than to sprain it,” Thybulle said. “Because the recovery time with all the ligaments that were torn takes so long. With a bone, it can just heal back up and it’s just as strong. It was a whole process. And then to have it happen in conjunction with a different injury … You start with the knee, and then hurt the ankle as bad as I did, and have those things be married as one giant injury to be dealt with. It made it quite the process.”

The injury was officially diagnosed as a Grade 2 ankle sprain; Thybulle reckons it was actually on the border of Grade 2 and Grade 3, and closer to the latter. That means a longer and more careful recovery than is typically seen from ankle injuries in the NBA.

“At first, it’s frustrating,” Thybulle said. “You’re angsty and just trying to find ways to get back out there. But once I realized the severity of the injury, I just had to accept that it’s going to take time. Then, the relationship became that of doing my rehab, showing up every day and being excited about the little steps that I was making towards getting back to where I am now. It’s been a bit of a journey, and not one I’ve known before.”

The Blazers’ unexpected second-half turnaround has been defined by their improved defense. Thybulle, who has been a defensive specialist his entire career, is looking forward to figuring out how he can fit into that, even if it’s not going to be smooth right away.

“I think in the beginning, it’s going to be a little frustrating just feeling it out,” Thybulle said. “I’ve got to get a feel for the guys, they’ve got to get a feel for me again. Playing defense is very much a group effort. So I think there will be a bit of a learning curve, but I know that my instincts will take over. There’s a way that I’m used to playing, that my body and my mind likes to do it. So once I can get into that state more easily, that’s the fun part.”

“The way that we’re playing this year is perfect for Tisse,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “Run around being disruptive, playing fast, shooting, cutting, it’s perfect for him.”

Billups doesn’t know when or how much Thybulle will play in the final 15 games of the season. He was cleared by the medical staff to be available for Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Knicks but didn’t actually get in the came. Billups didn’t feel comfortable putting Thybulle in after missing that much time without seeing him go through a full practice first.

Thybulle cleared that hurdle on Friday and was a full participant. Even still, it remains to be seen what his role will be in the Blazers’ next game on Sunday against Toronto.

“It’s gonna be hit-and-miss,” Billups said. “I think just having the newness and freshness of his legs and his mind and his soul will help us. But I don’t have a solid answer. You’re dealing with a guy who’s missed 67 games, didn’t even play in a preseason game. It’s tough to insert him into the lineup and the rotation with guys that have been around and developing. So we’ll see. But I trust Tisse and I trust that whenever I put him in, he’s going to play the right way.”

Once he does get on the court, it’s going to be a process for Thybulle to figure out his fit in a crowded wing rotation with Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija and Kris Murray.

“Get in where I fit in,” he said. “Coming into a season this late, it’s kind of crazy. Not wanting to take away from what’s happening, because we’ve found ourselves to a certain degree. But I think the nature of who I am as a player fits in most situations, so it’s just trusting that.”

Thybulle lost almost a full season to this injury. Now, the worst of it is behind him.

“Being a basketball player again is great,” he said. “It’s been tough to be a basketball player who can’t play basketball.”