Hornets Shut Down Ball (ankle) for Season – Unfortunately for the Charlotte Hornets, this is nothing new. Star guard LaMelo Ball will miss the remainder of the season as he continues to recover from right ankle surgery, the organizations PR department announced Wednesday on social media.
It comes as no surprise that the team is shutting down its star player with just 10 games left on the schedule. The Hornets have the Eastern Conference’s third-worst record at 18-54.
Ball, 22-years-of- age, signed a five-year, max extension in July. However, his young career has been derailed by devastating injuries. He took the court in 51 games in his rookie season and 75 in his sophomore campaign. A wrist injury curtailed his first year.
Last season, he was only able to suit up for 36 games. His season was cut short by a fractured right ankle that required surgery.
This season, he appeared in just 22 games, averaging 23.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists. He has not played since January 26 after the ankle was causing him unbearable pain.
Earlier in March, there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Ball was reportedly on track to return to action this season. That obviously never materialized. The team initially described the injury as right ankle soreness and later diagnosed it as ankle tendinopathy.
The injury bug seems to run in the family. His older brother Lonzo, who is currently a member of the Chicago Bulls, has been dealing with a catastrophic knee injury that has kept him on the shelf since January 2022.
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Nurse: Embiid Likely Returning in Regular Season – Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse spoke to reporters on Wednesday and stated there is a “very good” chance that superstar big man Joel Embiid will return at some point in April before the regular season comes to an end, which would greatly enhance the team’s playoff aspirations.
He did temper expectations, however, adding that there is no timetable for Embiid to return from the knee injury that has sidelined him since January 30.
Nurse also noted that he is optimistic that other reinforcement are on the way as well and that both De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington can return before the end of the regular season on April 14, though while Covington has been “making some progress,” Melton is “not as close yet.”
Embiid is obviously the catalyst though, and the Sixers are a far more vulnerable team without him.
Philadelphia is 26-8 with the 30-year-old Embiid in the lineup this season and 13-25 without him. The Sixers (39-33) have careened all the way down to the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, putting them on track to start the postseason in the Play-In Tournament. Dodging that would likely lead to a first-round series against the Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks.
When healthy, Embiid appeared to be on track to win back-to-back MVP awards, averaging 35.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals while shooting a blistering 53.3 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from 3-point range. He will fall well short of the 65-game threshold to reach the MVP award, however.
But the bigger prize at the end of the day is an NBA championship, and a healthy Embiid would at least give the Sixers a fighting chance to capture their first title since 1983.
“I think that we’ve got to see ourselves with Joel as a really good team, like a really good team,” Nurse told reporters on Monday.
“Like, we can play every night with anybody. We proved it. … I keep saying, we got to pick some of these off [with Embiid out].”
Granted, giving him some ramp-up time before the postseason gets underway would be the best-case scenario. Returning immediately to a playoff environment after such a lengthy layoff is a big ask.
But the Sixers are a mediocre team, at best, when he is not on the floor and a potential contender when he is. If he is able to return, hope will spring eternal in the ‘City of Brotherly Love’.
