The stakes are its highest during the NBA playoffs. As a result, it is the most important time for NBA superstars to play their best. However, with the intensity and physicality at its highest, there are unfortunate times when a superstar unexpectedly goes down with an injury. More often than not, these injuries negatively affected a team's championship hopes. For this piece, let's take a look at the 10 most devastating playoff injuries that destroyed championship hopes.
10. Damian Lillard: 2020 First Round
Injury: Right Knee Sprain
At the 2020 NBA bubble, the Blazers were dark horses to the championship, especially with Damian Lillard at the helm. Although they were huge underdogs against the eventual champions Lakers, they did manage to steal Game One thanks to Lillard's 34-point explosion. However in Game Four, the Blazers lost their star to a right knee sprain, forcing Lillard to exit the NBA bubble which led to an early playoff elimination.
9. Chris Paul: 2023 Western Conference Semifinals
Injury: Left Groin Tightness
The Suns were big-time title contenders, especially after acquiring Kevin Durant before the trade deadline. However, the 2021 NBA Finalists lost their star playmaker in Chris Paul due to a groin injury, which forced him to miss the rest of the series. Without Paul, the Suns were badly outplayed by Jokic and the Nuggets en route to another NBA Playoffs disappointment.
8. Kawhi Leonard: 2017 Western Conference Finals
Injury: Sprained Left Ankle
Going up against the defending Western Conference champions, the Spurs were willing to throw the kitchen sink in order to steal Game One. Spearheaded by 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, he scored 26 points to mount a 25-point lead over the Warriors until an awkward landing on the Warriors' Zaza Pachulia forced him to miss the rest of the game, opening an 18-0 Warriors blast. The Spurs star was also sidelined for the rest of the series, en route to a sweep against the eventual champions.
7. Dirk Nowitzki: 2003 Western Conference Finals
Injury: Sprained Knee
Thanks to Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks became a playoff-relevant squad. But while Nowitzki led the Mavs to as deep as the Western Conference Finals, the stretch forward buckled his knee in a rebound play against the Spurs' Manu Ginobili. The Mavs would go on to concede to the eventual champions in six games.
6. Yao Ming: 2009 Western Conference Semifinals
Injury: Hairline Foot Fracture
Locking horns against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, the Rockets needed all hands on deck to get past the reigning Western Conference champions. In fact, Yao Ming was their main rim protector and inside presence. However, the 7 ‘6 All-Star center suffered an awkward landing in his foot in Game Three to sideline him for the rest of the postseason. Although the Rockets relied on their role players to push the series to seven games, the Lakers would eventually go all the way to become champions, the first of the back to back.
5. Magic Johnson: 1989 NBA Finals
Injury: Hamstring Strain
After winning MVP honors, the Lakers looked like they were ready to win it all. Unfortunately, after losing Game One to the Pistons in the NBA Finals, the Lakers suffered another blackeye when they lost the newly crowned MVP to a hamstring injury. Without Johnson's playmaking, the Lakers' three-peat hopes went down the drain as Isiah Thomas and the Pistons capitalized on his absence en route to a sweep.
4. Kyrie Irving: 2015 NBA Finals
Injury: Fractured Knee Cap
With the Cavs engaged in a neck-and-neck battle against the Warriors in the NBA Playoffs, James and the Cavs failed to end it in regulation, which proved costly for the Cavs. Not only did they lose Game One in overtime, but they also lost All-Star guard Kyrie Irving after falling hard while making a drive. The Cavs would miss Irving's presence and went on to lose the series in six games.
3. Klay Thompson: 2019 NBA Finals
Injury: Torn ACL
Facing elimination, the Warriors needed all their shooters to hit their mark to keep their three-peat hopes alive. But while Klay Thompson answered the call with 30 points on four of six shooting from rainbow country, the one half of the Splash Brothers went down with an awkward landing against Danny Green. Thompson tore his ACL but made two free throws before exiting the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep the Warriors' three-peat hopes alive.
2. Kevin Durant: 2019 NBA Finals
Injury: Torn Achilles
Aside from Klay Thompson, the reigning back-to-back Finals MVP was also taken out in the same Warriors' championship campaign. In the Raptors' championship-clinching game, Durant scored 11 points before his Achilles gave in, which sidelined him for the rest of the series and the succeeding season. Without the Warriors' top two scorers, the Raptors ultimately capitalized and brought the 2019 NBA championship to Toronto.
1. Derrick Rose: 2012 First Round
Injury: Torn ACL
Just a season after becoming the youngest MVP, the Bulls ultimately pinned their championship hopes on Derrick Rose in the 2012 NBA Playoffs. However, the Bulls campaign ultimately hit a snag after Rose suffered a heartbreaking knee injury that put a halt to the Bulls' playoff campaign in the first round. But more importantly, the knee injury would alter the course of Rose's promising NBA career.
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