The Brooklyn Nets suffered more than a mere 120-113 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but also the loss of their best player, one head coach Kenny Atkinson pointed to as the heartbeat of the franchise.
LeVert suffered a crushing lower right leg injury with 0.3 seconds left in the first half after trying to contain a Josh Okogie drive. The injury left many on the floor covering their eyes, crying, or praying for his health after a gruesome sight.
“He’s the heart and soul of our program,” Atkinson said of LeVert, according to Greg Logan of Newsday. “Really tough blow. I feel for him. He’s had a fantastic start to the season. He’s obviously made a huge jump. I just know Caris — if anybody’s coming back from this, knowing the human, the character, the person, the player, he’ll come back from this. Tough, tough blow for the Nets.”
“Our only thoughts are with him. Nothing else matters. The game doesn’t matter tonight. That’s it.”
LeVert had come from a rousing second year in the league to becoming the Nets' top scorer, posting 19 points per game through 13 contests before taking the floor against the Timberwolves. His improvement proved one of the reasons the bottom-dwelling Nets were 6-7 before Monday's game and showed signs of promise with their young core.
Point guard D'Angelo Russell scored a season-high 31 points along with a career-high nine 3-pointers, but no statistical feat could wipe away the tragedy that took place heading into halftime.
“I saw right away what it was and tried to erase it from memory as soon as I could, but it doesn’t work like that,” said Russell. “It’s something that hurts. It’s hard to speak about.
“You don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but for us to see our brother go down that we practice with every day, that we’re on flights with every day, it’s devastating to the stomach. We can put up our prayers for him and step up and try to build off of it.”
The Nets will be tested without one of their most promising young players, as LeVert is due to miss extended time due to the nature of his injury. Russell will have the lion's share of the offensive duties with LeVert on the shelf, a task he's become familiar with after carrying the load for most of the 2017-18 season.
Follow Us
Subscribe