How Injuries are Affecting NBA Teams

At some point every athlete, it doesn’t matter whether professional or not, will be faced with all types of injuries. Any and all kinds of injuries can impact your team’s success significantly; as of right now, many NBA players have either dealt with on-and-off injuries or suffered severe ones that could potentially sideline them for a long period of time. With about a month left in the NBA regular season, teams are still fighting to clinch a spot in the playoffs, but with key players being sidelined with injuries, it’s been pretty challenging for some teams' success. In my opinion, this NBA season is the season of injury; a great deal of great players are dealing with different types of injuries. 

I personally believe that the Dallas Mavericks have been hit the hardest when it comes to having a full, healthy roster. They’ve just recently had to shut down Kyrie Irving, who has been averaging about 24 points a game, for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. His injury was tough to watch because you could clearly see how much pain he was in, and while he was in all that pain, he had to shoot 2 free throws. With tears in his eyes, Kyrie knocked down both free throws, making his injury bittersweet because he didn’t let his severe, painful injury knock him all the way down. To make matters worse, the Mavs ended their game on Sunday with 7 healthy players, and that is definitely a problem. The Mavs have been dealing with injuries all season, and the hopes for their success are pretty much out of the window this season. 

            Other players like LeBron James and his teammates Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes are also sidelined with injuries; they are all expected to return soon. Since these 3 players are starters, the Lakers are definitely struggling to fill in the roles these important players have. 

           There are also many active players who are currently dealing with on-and-off injuries, like Steph Curry, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown, and many more. Even though these players look healthy while they play, most of them are playing through injuries and deal with the aches and pains after games. You can hope that these players can remain healthy enough to finish off the season, but how your body takes in these injuries is unpredictable. 

           Yes, these aren’t all the current NBA players who are currently dealing with injuries; others like Victor Wembanyama, Dru Smith, De’Aaron Fox, Jaden Ivey, Kyrie Irving, and many more are all dealing with long injuries that might cause them to miss parts of the next season. Even though you can’t control your favorite player's health, you should always enjoy seeing them play because you just never know if they’ll soon be faced with the challenges of injuries. 

Image courtesy of DevianArt