NBA prospect Jonathan Jeanne diagnosed with possible career-ending condition

Jonathan Jeanne has been diagnosed with a possible career-ending condition. Jeanne’s Marfan syndrome may end his basketball career.

It was over before it ever began — well, at least we hope not anyway. Potential first round pick Jonathan Jeanne received the worst possible news with the 2017 NBA Draft just weeks away. Jeanne was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome which messes with the body’s connective tissue. A similar instance happened during the 2014 pre-draft lead up when Isaiah Austin was found to have the same disease. Austin was cleared to resume baseball activity two years later but still never played a game in the NBA.

Shams Charania of the Vertical reported the news.

The French draft prospect was first flagged for an abnormality in his spine after an MRI at the combine in Chicago. After going through a follow-up, the bad news was announced Thursday. Unfortunately for Jeanne, he likely won’t be cleared to resume basketball activity leading up the the 2017 NBA Draft.

Bouna Ndiaye, the agent of Jonathan Jeanne, gave a statement to Shams Charania remaining hopeful that he can return to basketball at some point.

"“Jeanne remains hopeful that he can one day resume his basketball career after extensive medical supervision, Ndiaye said.”"

Jeanne, 7-foot-1, is an interesting prospect that has big time potential. Jeanne has been rising up draft boards as an International prospect that teams were starting to get excited about. The latest version of the FanSided 2017 NBA Mock Draft  had Jeanne slotted to Utah with the 30th overall pick. Plugging him next to fellow French man Rudy Gobert could have been fun to watch.

Next: Selecting the 10 greatest mustaches in NBA history

After learning this bad news, Jeanne will likely go undrafted. We hope that he has a speedy recovery and can get back on the court as soon as possible.