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SALT LAKE CITY — Joe Ingles would like to make a few things clear: He's not dead; he's not dying. Heck, he's not even retiring.
Since Ingles went down with an ACL tear last weekend, he's been bombarded with solemn well wishes. He's seen the news reports that his career was "hanging by a thread." He's heard people talk about him almost in hushed tones.
It's all been quite odd.
"That's like crazy," Ingles said with his usual grin. "I get the age part of it. I get like the injury, but I don't know if you guys have ever looked into the success rates of NBA players coming back from ACLs: It's pretty good. And the age thing to me is just, like it's silly."
The 34-year-old Jazz fan favorite will undergo surgery in the next couple weeks. He expects recovery and rehab to take about 10 months, but then he'll be back. And he's determined to return to playing at a high level.
That said, he does understand the premature eulogies a little bit. In the immediate aftermath of his injury, he couldn't help but go straight to the negative, too.
He looked up at Bojan Bogdanovic and thought it may be the last time he'd share the court with him. When Mike Conley found him in the back during halftime, Ingles wondered if he'd ever play with the veteran point guard again.
Then he got home to his wife, Renae. She, for the lack of a better word, kicked him into shape.
"She was like, 'You got to do this, and you're doing this and you're eating this,'" Ingles said. She told him it wasn't a matter of whether or not he was going to come back — that was already clear. She told him the point was to get back better.
Ingles wasn't lying about the return rate for players who suffer ACL injuries. According to recent studies, the "return to sport" rate for NBA players after suffering an ACL injury is between 89%-94% (the reason there's not an exact number is because of different definitions of "return to sport").
So for the most part, players return. And, as Ingles is quick to point out, it's not like his game has been predicated on athleticism. He should be able to move just as slow as he always has after recovery.
Ingles said he had "zero doubt" that he'd return — and pointed to the 2024 Olympics in Paris as the time he'll even start considering retirement — but he doesn't yet know where. He was in trade talks before his injury, and he understands his contract still could be moved before the trade deadline next Thursday.
Being part of trade speculation has been new for Ingles, and he admitted it did take its toll. He wasn't worried about playing on a new team — he's confident he would have figured that out — but it was the process of moving a family in the middle of a school year that had him concerned.
With him now unable to play this season, regardless of if the Jazz move his deal or not, he said he'll remain in Salt Lake City as he recovers. And he said, regardless of what happens before now and the trade deadline, that he's open — and even hoping — that he can re-sign with the Jazz this summer.
"That would be the ideal situation, obviously," Ingles said. "I've been very vocal about me not wanting to be anywhere else, and playing out my career here. I still think I have a couple more years to give."
So hold off on the career obituaries; Ingles isn't done yet.
