Pistons' Jaden Ivey's Serious Injury Was Hidden In The Crowd
Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey he injured his leg so badly on Wednesday, January 1 that his teammates made sure to hide it from the fans in attendance.
In the fourth quarter of the Pistons' game against the Orlando Magic at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday, Ivey's left leg, 22, got stuck under the Magic's. Cole Anthony when both players are chasing a loose ball.
Ivey was soon in complete pain on the floor as he was being attended to by the Pistons medical staff. Finally, one of Ivey's teammates grabbed a towel from the bench to cover his leg and the rest of the team surrounded him.
A stretcher was used to transport Ivey out of the courtroom as the crowd watched in silence. Ivey's partner, Ausar Thompsonappeared to be wiping away tears.
Sources told ESPN on Thursday, January 2 that Ivey suffered a broken fibula in his left leg and is likely to miss the remainder of the season.
“It's hard. It's hard for all of us,” said the Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said after the game. “There is no one who plays with him better than JI. There is no one who cares more about this than him. It's hard to see.”
Bickerstaff, 45, added, “At the heart of this team, and what we've tried to preach all year since we've been here is togetherness. If one guy goes down, you don't want to let that guy down, so everybody has to step up. And, the emotions, the human aspect of it, but I thought our guys did a great job of sticking together and doing it.”
The star of the Pistons Cade Cunningham he said that Ivey's injury was “tough on the whole team.”
“Seeing him in pain like this is hard for us,” Cunningham, 23, told reporters. “He created this for himself, he is about to rebel when he knows him. He will work his tail off and be better than ever when he comes back. It's hard to see that, really.”
After the injury, Cunningham explained that he gathered the group to “pray.”
“We just wanted to get ourselves together and talk about it and make sure everyone was on the same page about what we needed to do from that point forward,” Cunningham said.
Ivey, selected by the Pistons with the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, had been averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
The Pistons return to action on Friday, January 3 against the Charlotte Hornets.
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