5 biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 NBA season
1. So. Many. Injuries.
When Gordon Hayward went down with a horrific ankle injury on opening night, little did we know it would only be the tip of the iceberg when it came to calamitous injuries this season.
DeMarcus Cousins suffered a torn Achilles late in a game against the Houston Rockets in January. Kristaps Porzingis’ season came to an end shortly thereafter due to a torn ACL. A heel ailment sidelined Mike Conley in November and forced him to miss the rest of the season, too. And as the Boston Celtics announced Thursday, Kyrie Irving is set to miss the entire postseason due to an issue with his left knee.
Stars weren’t the only ones with terrible injury luck. Brooklyn Nets point guard Jeremy Lin suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his first game of the season. Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Andre Roberson ruptured his patellar tendon in January. Milwaukee Bucks combo guard Malcolm Brogdon has missed eight weeks and counting with a partially torn left quadriceps tendon, while fellow teammate Matthew Dellavedova hasn’t played since early February due to a sprained right ankle.
That isn’t to mention the likes of Chris Paul, Rudy Gobert, Paul Millsap, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler and John Wall, all of whom missed 15 or more games due to an assortment of injuries but have thankfully returned ahead of the playoffs. Stephen Curry, however, is poised to miss the first round of the playoffs as he recovers from a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee.
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And who could forget the curious cases of Kawhi Leonard and Markelle Fultz? The former has played only nine games this season as he continues to recover from right quadriceps tendinopathy that has plagued him since the offseason, while the latter missed 68 games due to a mysterious shoulder issue that contributed to him losing the form on his jump shot. While Fultz recently made his return, Leonard’s status for the playoffs remains TBD, although it’s becoming increasingly less likely that we see him again this season.
Across the league, players have missed more than 5,000 games this season due to injury or illness, according to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes, which is the first time that’s happened since the 2004-05 season. As Bleacher Report’s Tom Haberstroh noted, a multitude of factors may be contributing to the rise in injuries — from a shortened training camp and preseason to teams and medical staffs being more cautious with injured players — but whatever the cause, it’s been one season-long bummer for NBA fans.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com and are current heading into Saturday, April 7.