NHL's Tyler Ennis: Doctors Mixed Up X-Ray Result with Ex-NBA Player of Same Name

There aren't that many people named Tyler Ennis in professional sports, so it's understandable if casual fans mixed them up on occasion.

It's probably not great if the doctors are the ones switching diagnoses, though.

According to Ian Mendes of TSN, Ottawa Senators forward Tyler Ennis suffered an ankle injury last season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs but was given the injury information of the basketball player with the same name instead.

"They pulled up my X-ray. And they’re like 'Woah—you’ve got a really bad displaced break here,'" Ennis said while explaining he was surprised by how bad the diagnosis was at first.

"They double-checked and they actually had the image from the other Tyler Ennis, who broke his leg playing basketball overseas," he added. "His break was a lot worse than mine. When they confused our X-rays, I was a little nervous. I thought my recovery was going to take a lot longer."

Mendes noted the hockey-playing Ennis missed less than two months with his ankle injury, while the basketball player missed more than a year with the leg injury he suffered while playing for Fenerbahce in Turkey.

"Wow. Just wow," the basketball player said when told of the mix-up. "The timing of that is just mind blowing. I can only imagine what he was thinking."

Ennis underwent surgery in Turkey and returned to his hometown of Toronto for his rehab process. He understands how the mix-up happened considering he was checking in at a Toronto hospital at the same time his hockey-playing namesake was a member of the Maple Leafs.

He has since recovered and is playing for Toronto's G League team, the Raptors 905.

Ennis was a first-round pick of the Phoenix Suns in 2014 after a successful collegiate career at Syracuse and played for the Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers during his NBA tenure. His last NBA game was in April 2018 as a member of the Lakers.

The Senators forward has appeared in 27 games this season with 11 points on six goals and five assists.