LOS ANGELES, CA – Across six seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Ivica Zubac has missed just 12 games due to injury. The Croatian big man, who came into the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves having played 360 out of possible 372 games, is now facing an extended absence from basketball for the first time in his NBA career due to what the team is calling a right calf strain.
Zubac appeared in all 38 games to start the season for the Clippers and was their defensive anchor as they put together a dominant 23-7 stretch dating back to November 17, 2023. He entered Sunday's road matchup in Minnesota with a chance to inch the Clippers closer to the top spot in the Western Conference, but quickly noticed something wasn't right as he began his usual warm up routine.
“I felt some pain after the Memphis Grizzlies game [on Friday night], but it was not a lot,” Ivica Zubac told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “And then the next day I didn't feel anything. So, you know, nothing was out of character, nothing was different.
“I was just trying to get ready for the [Wolves] game and when I got out on the court for the pregame warmups, that's when I felt it. I started moving a little bit, I started feeling a sharp pain. I tried to [warm up]. Then we came out for the layup lines, and the medical staff came out with me to put me through some different motions and stuff to see if I can go and, you know, I tried it, but it didn't work. So that was a late scratch for the game and I thought I was good, you know, it's nothing major, but we did an MRI and here we are.”
The official announcement from the team is that Zubac will be re-evaluated in four weeks after suffering a right calf strain. The four-week mark would be just before the 2024 NBA All-Star break. Given the seriousness of a calf strain and the injuries it can lead to if not treated accordingly, it wouldn't be surprising to see Zubac have to miss even more time to make sure he's 100 percent past the injury.
Zubac played 22 minutes against the Grizzlies on Friday, finishing with six points, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots. It was one of the lower scoring games of the season for the center averaging a career-high 12.4 points per game this season to go along with 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on 65.5 percent shooting
“I mean, I didn't feel when it happened, that was a crazy part,” Zubac continued to ClutchPoints. “I just felt pain after the game, so I don't know when it happened, what play, how it happened, nothing. I just felt a little soreness after the game, but I thought I just got hit in it, so I didn't really mind it, you know, and it's not a lot of soreness, so that's all it is.”
Ivica Zubac has dealt with calf injuries throughout his career, whether his teams label them as soreness or strains. He missed time with a right calf strain in February 2023 as well as February 2022. He's never had to miss more than six games in a season since joining the Clippers.
Ivica Zubac missed the last 2 games with a right calf strain, but appears to be heading in the right direction with the upgrade for tomorrow's game. https://t.co/GSqnKR9z2G
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 28, 2023
Ivica Zubac is out here warming up. He’s questionable with a sore calf. #Clippers pic.twitter.com/yNV0l5xxKF
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 7, 2022
The Clippers have accumulated a 222-138 record in 360 games that Zubac plays in, good for a .618 winning percentage. Over 82 games, that would amount to a 50-win season.
So how does Zubac approach this unfamiliar territory of missing significant time midseason and appropriately rehabbing an injury without being too eager to return?
“I mean… I don't know. I've never missed this much time in the league, so we'll see. I'll take it day by day, do everything I can, whatever is is my possibility, you know, whatever I can do to get back as soon as possible, get stronger, gonna lift a lot, gonna get some rest too, and you know, do everything I can to get back as soon as possible.”
The Clippers won their first game since Ivica Zubac's diagnosis was officially released on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In total, Zubac will miss 14 games before he's re-evaluated just before the All-Star break. Even if he makes good progress, he's unlikely to be cleared to play anytime before the break given the gravity of the injury.
Being out for an extended period is going to be a major adjustment for Tyronn Lue and the Clippers, who will have to heavily rely on Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis to make up for Zubac's absence.
“It's different because you're always used to big Zu being on the floor,” Tyronn Lue said on what it'll be like to play without Zubac for a long stretch of time. “He has always been reliable and has always been an Iron Man, like you said, always available and so to miss this much time, an extended period of time, it's going to be hard on us, but moreso it's hard on him. He wants to be out there and so I just feel bad for Zu.”
Patience and a positive mindset is going to be crucial for Zubac in his recovery. He takes solace in the fact that the Clippers are playing well and expects them to continue their winning ways while he's trying to get back on the court.
“Just knowing the team's doing well. We're playing well and they're gonna hold it down for me. But I also look at it this way: it's better that this happened now than after the All-Star break, right before the playoffs, or in the playoffs, so this is better than that. Unfortunately, it happened, but it could've been worse, so I'll take it.”
The Clippers, 26-14, are in the midst of a four-day break from play, and they'll resume their season on Sunday afternoon when they host the Brooklyn Nets.
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