Khem Birch Opens Up About His Ailing Knee & the 'Bad Vibes' Surrounding His Season

Toronto Raptors center Khem Birch says he's had to learn to navigate through a frustrating knee injury as the injuries continue to mount for him

Aaron Rose | Mar 12, 2022

Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

To Khem Birch, this season has just felt a little off.

It's as if there's been a cloud hanging over him. It started in the preseason when he tested positive for COVID-19 and took a while to find his rhythm. Then came the knee injury that's plagued him all season. Add in a fractured nose and a broken tooth and it's as if someone out there is playing with a Birch voodoo doll trying to ruin the 29-year-old's season.

"I would say that ever since I’ve moved back home there’s been a lot of negative energy," the Toronto Raptors center said Friday night. "I think a lot of people wanna see me fail so maybe that’s what it is. I just have bad vibes around me."

The knee injury has been the most frustrating for Birch who said he's had to learn to take care of it with 24-7 attention. It requires constant monitoring, early morning stretches, followed by afternoon and pre-game workouts to "activate it," he said.

It's helped lately, but on the whole, things have been a little disappointing for Birch this season. His numbers are down across the board and his lack of mobility has limited his defensive versatility. Since he returned from the knee injury on New Year's Eve, the Raptors' defense is 7.0 points per 100 possessions better without Birch on the court.

"Honestly, I feel like with any other team I probably wouldn’t even be playing right now," he said. "The fact that (the Raptors' coaching staff) just have that type of confidence in me despite all the injuries I’ve had, all the setbacks, and I’m still getting minutes tells a lot about how they feel about me and it gives me a lot of confidence to keep going despite my injury."

The hope is Friday night's game was a turning point for Birch who helped stabilize Toronto's defense down the stretch. He twice helped blitz Devin Booker late in the fourth quarter, forcing a pair of turnovers as the Raptors snuck out of Phoenix with the victory.

"Defensively he was the best option there with the coverages we were in," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said of Birch. "It’s not easy, as you can see. ... Booker took it from the left wing all the way around trying to get out of the double a couple of times and Khem kept running with him."

Toronto is going to need more of that this year and into the future from Birch who has two years left on his three-year deal. Considering the season he's had, that deal hasn't looked great, but if he can manage his knee injury and find his niche, he's still young enough to get a few more years out of that ailing knee.

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