The Sacramento Kings will be without shooting guard Buddy Hield on Monday evening against the New Orleans Pelicans. Hield has been ruled out of the Western Conference clash down in New Orleans due to an illness, one that is unrelated to COVID-19.

However, as noted by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, Hield will be forced to miss his first game since all the way back in 2017, breaking a streak of a whopping 272 consecutive appearances. Hield last missed a game on November 20, 2017, in his first full season as a member of the Kings.

The 28-year-old Buddy Hield notably split his rookie season atop the highest level between the Kings and Pelicans while being traded from New Orleans to Sacramento midway through the 2016-17 campaign. Originally selected by the Pelicans with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma, the seasoned sharpshooter has remained with the Kings ever since.

Appearing in all 82 regular season games as a rookie, BuddyHield then appeared in an impressive 80 games the following season in 2017-18. After another full regular season in 2018-19, Hield then strung together 72 more outings for the Kings during the shortened 2019-20 campaign. Hield began the 2020-21 regular season with 53 appearances, all of which have been starts.

Over the course of 34.5 minutes per game this season, a mark that would set a new single-season career-high mark for, he is currently averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists per outing. For his NBA career, which has spanned 369 regular season games and 247 starts, Hield is currently averaging an even 16 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 28.7 minutes per contest.