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Jazz star Dante Exum suffers possible ACL injury (Video)

By Josh Hill

April 5, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) looks on during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
April 5, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) looks on during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dante Exum left an international game on Tuesday after suffering a scary non-contact injury to his knee. 

UPDATE (8/6): As feared, the Jazz have announced that Exum has a torn ACL.

"“First and foremost, our overriding concern is with Danté and his long-term health,” said Utah Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey. “We are continuing to work closely with our medical staff, Danté and his representation in order to reach an accurate diagnosis and recommended treatment so that we can provide him with the best possible care. We all know how hard he will work to make a full recovery and look forward to his return to play.”"

This means that the second-year guard will more than likely miss the entire 2015-16 season, which is really a crying shame given how exciting he was starting to look.

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and NBA point guards suffering bogus knee injures. That’s just the way life works, as NBA point guards — specifically young and exciting guards — typically get injured early on in their careers thus throwing a wet blanket on our enjoyment of the game.

That’s what happened to second-year Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum. The international man of mystery from the 2014 NBA Draft suffered a non-contact injury to his knee on Tuesday during international play. Of course, this is jumping to a devastating conclusion, but the first place our minds go to when we hear ‘non-contact’ and ‘knee’ is ACL injury.

Here’s the injury:

That’s not good — it’s terrible.

Look, jumping right to an ACL injury is pretty intense, but nine times out of ten a non-contact injury that ends up as bad as this is usually an ACL injury. Plus, if you’re a point guard in the NBA, you should just assume that at some point in your career — usually right when you’re getting exciting to watch — you’re going to suffer a knee injury of some kind.

Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving are all on this list in the very recent past and now Exum has added his name.

Hopefully this is nothing more than a bad sprain or a hyperextension of some sort but so far the news isn’t good. Exum is back in Salt Lake City undergoing further evaluation and more will be known about his status shortly.

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