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There are 2,460 total regular season games in an NBA season, but that is not even half of the number of games missed by all NBA players due to injuries in the NBA 2017-18 campaign. According to Jeff Stotts of RotoWire, the current count of NBA games sat out by hurt ballers in the NBA has gone over the 5,000 mark – the most in more than 10 seasons.
Total NBA games lost to injury or illness crossed the 5,000 mark over the weekend. This is the first time since the league stopped using the injured reserve list prior to the 2005-06 season that this has occurred.
If anything, the first day of this regular season provided a bad omen for the rest of the campaign in terms of players’ health. When Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome leg injury during the season opener between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, it kicked off a seemingly endless trend of players getting sidelined for a prolonged period of time because of injuries.
Apart from Hayward, other poster boys for shelved NBA players this season are Kawhi Leonard, DeMarcus Cousins, Kristaps Porzingis, and even Stephen Curry.
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Leonard has been dealing with a quadriceps injury that has become as problematic as it is controversial to the Spurs. Cousins went down with an Achilles injury, while Porzingis and Curry are dealing with knee issues.
The Playoffs is less than two weeks away, and its luster surely would take a hit if most of these stars won’t be able to play in the postseason because of injuries. Apart from Curry and company, there is also a legion of second-tier players who are also sidelined with ailments.
There are plenty of explanations as to why injuries have become this prevalent in the NBA, but it’s largely up to the league itself how it will curb the number of injured players moving forward.
