There's barely a night where a star player hasn't gone down. So if you're in the NBA, you may want to walk gingerly.
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As relayed by injury-tracking expert Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes (via RealGM), games missed are up by 35 percent compared to this time last year. And we're barely three weeks into the NBA season.
Along with that, Stotts reported lost games are up 16 percent compared to the 2022-23 season. Ouch.
You know the names. Chet Holmgren. Paolo Banchero. Ja Morant. Kevin Durant. Aaron Gordon. Dejounte Murray. Kawhi Leonard (still). Zion Williamson (again). In fact, Williamson's Pelicans can barely field a team these days. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
"It's a confounding issue," Stotts recently told Marc Stein of The Stein Line. "I don't think there is one singular cause. I think it's a multitude of factors from offseason approach to practice methods.
"I also still believe the pace-and-space era has taken a major toll on players' bodies. Every position is now asked to cover more ground and this can be difficult — especially for bigs. It leaves players vulnerable to injury."
Others across the NBA have suggested that the players are simply on the court too much, and not just for games.
"Guys are doing full shooting workouts and sometimes lifting (weights) before games," one former NBA player told Hoops Wire, his voice rising. "They need showers before they even get to the layup line. It doesn't matter your age — all this extra court time is gonna take a toll on your body."
Everyone has their own theories. No one has any answers. All we really know is NBA bodies have been breaking down, and at an alarming rate, and we're barely into 2024-25.
(This post originally appeared on Hoops Wire and was syndicated with permission.)
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