The 78th season of the National Basketball Association is well underway, and a number of star players are already making headlines for the wrong reasons.
After a mixed bag of a start to his sixth campaign, the Pelicans announced on Saturday that Zion Williamson would be out indefinitely after imaging had revealed a left hamstring strain. The 2019 number-one overall pick has struggled with a number of long-term injuries throughout his career. Most recently, it was his other hamstring that ended his season prematurely amidst a dominant showing against the Los Angeles Lakers in last season’s play-in tournament.
The Pelicans are now without most of their rotational pieces and have dropped to 3-8 on the year. Dejounte Murray hasn’t played since fracturing his hand in the team’s home opener. CJ McCollum, Jordan Hawkins, Jose Alvarado and Herb Jones are among those who have since gone down with injuries in the last few weeks. Brandon Ingram has carried a heavy load as the lone healthy starter, but he hasn’t stopped New Orleans from winning just one of their last nine games.
Elsewhere, Oklahoma City star Chet Holmgren will now miss at least two months with a pelvic fracture. The Gonzaga product missed his entire rookie season with an Achilles issue before impressing in his first healthy campaign in the league a year ago. The 7-footer’s Thunder squad had flown out the gates winning seven games to start the season. With backup centre Isaiah Hartenstein already on the sidelines, head coach Mark Daigenault now faces at least a few weeks with a lack of depth in the frontcourt.
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Philadelphia 76ers cornerstone Joel Embiid was yet to make his season debut, though he logged his first appearance on Tuesday night as they hosted the New York Knicks. The 2023 NBA MVP is another superstar with a long injury history and summer arrival Paul George is the latest All-Star aiming to be the first to get Embiid over the line and into the conference finals.
“It’ll make everybody’s job a little easier,” said George of the Cameroonian-American’s return to the court. Point guard Tyrese Maxey is also sidelined with a right hamstring strain. The struggling 76ers and head coach Nick Nurse will hope to finally get all three of his best players on the hardwood together by the end of the month.
Out in the desert, the Phoenix Suns have had a strong start to the new campaign under Mike Budenholzer. All was well for the team whose season ended mercilessly at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a first-round sweep last spring. That is until Kevin Durant suffered a left calf strain in last Friday’s win over Dallas. The 36-year-old has missed more than his fair share of time in recent years and his tenure in Phoenix has seen an overhaul of the roster around him, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker. Expectations are high for a team deep into the NBA’s luxury tax.
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Aaron Gordon is out for multiple weeks with a calf strain of his own, but his teammate Nikola Jokic is putting up historical numbers in his absence. The Denver Nuggets centre is after his fourth MVP in five seasons. Gordon, alongside Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr, headlines Jokic’s supporting cast in their quest for a second championship as a group.
The Orlando Magic are also down their star forward Paolo Banchero after he was diagnosed with a torn oblique. The 2022 first-overall pick is due to miss up to six weeks. The young Magic squad have built a strong defensive identity under Jamahl Mosley and after adding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the offseason is looking to get out of the first round after last year’s game seven defeat to Cleveland. Losing Banchero for an extended stretch hurts their chances of securing home-court advantage for the postseason.
The rebuilding Toronto Raptors have lost their biggest piece Scottie Barnes to an orbital fracture. The young Raptors squad is unrecognisable from the 2019 championship-winning unit that was headlined by Kawhi Leonard, who himself started the year hurt. His Los Angeles Clippers are floating above .500 in his absence, but getting Leonard on the court will be a prerequisite for Ty Lue’s squad to have any success after Paul George’s move to Philadelphia over the summer.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton underwent surgery on both ankles this offseason. His season debut is imminent, but the Bucks are in crisis. They’ve fallen to 3-8 even with Damian Lillard and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antentokounmpo both on the floor, and head coach Doc Rivers is on the hot seat for a squad with championship aspirations.
After the Memphis Grizzlies 2023/24 campaign was ravaged by injuries left and right, their luck is yet to change in the new season. Star point guard Ja Morant is now out with a hip injury without a timetable for return. He joins GG Jackson and Desmond Bane on the sidelines. Memphis finished second in the Western Conference in 2022/23; the last time Taylor Jenkins had a healthy team at his disposal.
While absences are hampering such a large number of teams, the defending champion Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are among the teams off to fantastic starts. They sit atop their respective conferences as the NBA’s in-season tournament, the NBA Cup, gets underway this week.
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