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Detroit Pistons Forward Taurean Prince Overcame A Herniated Disc In His Neck Last Season
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- Detroit Pistons Forward Taurean Prince Overcame A Herniated Disc In His Neck Last Season
During the summer, the Detroit Pistons have made no bones about it— they're going to be a more complete offensive team in terms of balance when the 2026-27 campaign tips off, and that starts with improving their three-point shooting .
Last year, the Pistons were in the bottom half of the NBA for perimeter shooting efficiency during the regular season, so Detroit's President of Basketball Operations, Trajan Langdon, set out to add a group of long-range marksmen during the offseason . As a result, the Pistons now have John Collins , Isaiah Joe , Taurean Prince and Gary Harris on the roster , all four of which hit or crossed the 40% threshold from beyond the arc last season.
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But for Prince, last year was a laborious up-and-down stretch that was thrown into question when he herniated a disc in his neck in November and ultimately culminated in an expedient return to the Milwaukee Bucks back in March.
"It really was a challenge, just to really hone in day-to-day and focus on the get-back," Prince said after his return . "And if I'm not mistaken, first player to ever have this injury and get back the same season, so that's something that was in my mind from the very beginning, and I'm just glad to be able to step foot on the court again."
Unlike many injuries that pop up during the course of an NBA season, a herniated disc in a player's neck ranks towards the serious end of the spectrum, so Prince was forced to slowly ramp up his activity while working his way back to Bucks, which was his goal from day one.
"Obviously, the staff here is amazing, appreciate them for everything, but I was definitely trying to push the needle a little bit and I just know myself," Prince said. "This is my third injury in five years, so I've kind of came back earlier than most would on all three, so I kind of know myself, know my body, and as I felt ready to take the next step, I would have voiced that and we'd have conversations and we'd find a middle ground, which I appreciate, and just the whole time coming back was definitely a grind. But I'm just glad for this day in general, like I said, to just have my family watch me play again. It's something that there was a possibility could never happen again if I chose not to get the surgery, but the moment I knew there was a chance it could happen again if I got the surgery, I just went for it."
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Even after nine years in the pros, Prince still has an ample amount of determination to compete each day, and that driving force was a springboard for what was a speedy recovery, all aspects considered. Prince credited his family and his teammates for support along the way, and he says that he "never felt like" an outsider in the Milwaukee locker room even if he wasn't healthy enough to play at that time.
"I wasn't really worried about the contact part," Prince said. "We put in a lot of work. I've been three days on, one day off ever since I got the surgery when it came to rehabbing. I just put in a lot of time just getting back. I knew I was prepared for any hit, any contact, so it was more so just getting out there and knocking off the rust."
After missing most of November, all of December, January and February, the Baylor product returned to the court and finished out the rest of the season for the Bucks, which included a 15-point performance against the Pistons on April 8 that was sandwiched between a pair of double-double efforts.
"I didn't have any doubt I wouldn't be back this season the moment they said the rehab would have to go flawless for that to be the case," Prince said.
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Now that Prince has switched threads for a different Central Division squad, the versatile wing who shot 43.6% from downtown last year is ready for his suit up for the Pistons when training camp arrives in the Motor City.
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