Hip Resurfacing in Professional Athletes: The Gold Standard for Elite Return to Play

For an elite athlete, a diagnosis of severe hip arthritis was once a career-ending injury. Traditional total hip arthroplasty (THA) often carries activity restrictions and dislocation risks that fail to meet the biomechanical demands of contact and high-impact sports. Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty (HRA), pioneered at the highest athletic levels by Edwin Su, MD at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), preserves femoral bone and uses an anatomically sized implant to deliver the stability required for elite competition.

Some Landmark Athlete Cases

Hip resurfacing has shifted from an experimental route to an established comeback pathway across professional sports.

• Patrick Kane (NHL All-Star): After undergoing hip resurfacing with Dr. Edwin Su in June 2023, Kane returned to the ice within six months. The procedure revitalized his mobility, allowing him to extend his career, surpass Mike Modano to become the all-time points leader among American-born NHL players, and continue climbing the all-time goal leaderboard.
• John Klingberg (NHL Defenseman): Following severe hip deterioration, Klingberg underwent hip resurfacing in late 2023 and completed the rigorous rehabilitation process to resume top-four defensive minutes and power-play duties at the NHL level.
• Nick Jensen (NHL Defenseman): Jensen pursued advanced hip surgery to eliminate chronic joint locking and pain, regaining the stability and explosive lateral mobility required to log heavy defensive minutes.
• Danny Young (MLB Pitcher, New York Mets): After undergoing hip surgery in 2023 that ended his season, the left-handed reliever mounted a successful comeback. In 2024, Young became a core, high-leverage weapon out of the New York Mets bullpen, striking out over 11 batters per nine innings across 42 appearances with high-velocity sinker-slider mechanics—proving a repaired hip can support the violent rotational torque of major league pitching.
• Colby Lewis (MLB Pitcher, Texas Rangers): Operated on by Dr. Su in 2013, Lewis became the first MLB pitcher to return after hip resurfacing, pitching multiple full seasons and a complete-game shutout pain-free.
• Bob Bryan (Grand Slam Tennis Champion): Underwent hip resurfacing with Dr. Su in August 2018; just five months later, he returned to the ATP tour, competed at the 2019 Australian Open, and won major titles (including the Miami Open) alongside his brother Mike. His success directly inspired Andy Murray to pursue the procedure.
• Isaiah Thomas (Two-Time NBA All-Star): Battling severe bone-on-bone arthritis that compromised his movement, Thomas underwent hip resurfacing with Dr. Su in 2020, successfully regaining his full range of motion, lateral cutting ability, and returning to the NBA.
• Tiago Splitter (NBA Champion Center): Underwent hip resurfacing with Dr. Su in 2016, making history as the first player to play in the NBA with a resurfaced hip when he returned to the court for the Philadelphia 76ers.
• Ed Jovanovski (NHL Defenseman): Known as "JovoCop," Jovanovski underwent hip resurfacing with Dr. Su and made a historic return to the Florida Panthers in 2014, becoming the first NHL player to skate again after the procedure.
• Artur Akhmatkhuzin (Olympic Fencer): After resurfacing with Dr. Su, Akhmatkhuzin returned to world-class competition to win an Olympic Gold Medal in foil fencing at the Rio 2016 Games.

What Kind of Activities Are Possible?

The metal-on-metal design of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) system provides bone preservation, joint stability, and durability with collision/contact sports.

• High-Impact & Contact Sports: Full-contact ice hockey, professional basketball, major league baseball, and Grand Slam singles/doubles tennis.
• High-Torque Rotational Force: Slapshots, crossovers, baseball pitching mechanics, and golf swings.
• Endurance Athletics: Long-distance running, ultramarathons, and Ironman triathlons.
• Functional Mobility: Deep squatting, aggressive lateral cutting, and full flexibility required for professional agility.

Recovery Timeline: The Road Back to Professional Sport

Recovery Phase Timeline Primary Milestones & Focus

Phase 1: Protection Weeks 1–6 Protected weight-bearing, reduction of inflammation, and passive range of motion.

Phase 2: Conditioning Weeks 6–12 Transition to full weight-bearing, stationary biking, elliptical, and core activation.

Phase 3: Sport Loading Months 3–6 Moderate-impact training, jogging, straight-line skating, and sport-specific drills.

Phase 4: Return to Play Months 6–12 High-impact contact drills, full-speed scrimmage, and clearance for professional competition. Critical Considerations & The Reality of Return to Play.

A frequent question athletes ask Dr. Su before surgery is: "Will I be able to play again?"

Dr. Su's Perspective: "If you've been able to play your sport with a bone-on-bone hip joint, then yes-you should be able to return to play!"

While the mechanical joint is restored, several important caveats determine the final outcome:

• Rehabilitation Is Critical: A flawless surgery only sets the stage; the recovery and rehabilitation process must go exceptionally well. Rebuilding deep stabilizer strength, correcting years of compensatory movement patterns, and managing soft tissue healing are critical. Dr. Su prefers that athletes work with a specific physical therapist who has had experience rehabbing athletes at the elite level. 
• Explosiveness vs. Pain Relief: Surgery eliminates arthritic pain, but it is never guaranteed whether an athlete will fully regain the exact explosiveness, movement, and elite agility they possessed prior to injury.
• Biological Healing Over Implant Constraints: Limitations in peak performance are typically dictated by muscular recovery, scar tissue, and surgical healing rather than the mechanical limits of the artificial joint itself.

Results and Performance Outcomes

• Uncompromising Longevity: Clinical registries and long-term evaluations show a 95% to 98% 10-year implant survival rate, particularly in active male cohorts.
• Dislocation Resistance: The large anatomical femoral head matches natural hip biomechanics, minimizing the dislocation risks inherent in conventional replacements.
• Elite Performance Retention: Patients routinely transition from disabling arthritic pain to near-perfect postoperative functional scores, enabling prolonged careers and historic athletic milestones.

References:

Morse, K. W., Premkumar, A., Zhu, A., Morgenstern, R., & Su, E. P. (2021). Return to Sport After Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 9. https://doi.org/10.1177/23259671211003521 

Crow, J. B., Gelfand, B., & Su, E. P. (2008). Use of Joint Mobilization in a Patient With Severely Restricted Hip Motion Following Bilateral Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty. Physical Therapy, 88(12), 1591-1600. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20080038

Saluja, A., Wong, Z., Jordan, L. A., & Su, E. P. (2025). Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty in Men: A Minimum 15-Year Follow-Up Study. The Journal of Arthroplasty. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2025.03.038

Su, E. P., Ho, H., Bhal, V., Housman, L. R., Masonis, J. L., Noble, J. W., Hopper, R. H., Jr., & Engh, C. A., Jr. (2021). Results of the First U.S. FDA-Approved Hip Resurfacing Device at 10-Year Follow-up. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 103(14), 1303–1311. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.20.01886