Jaden Ivey. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey suffered such a horrific leg injury on Wednesday, January 1 that his teammates took care to hide him from the fans in attendance.
In the fourth quarter of the Pistons’ game against the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, the 22-year-old Ivy’s left leg got stuck under Magic’s leg Cole Anthony while both players were chasing a loose ball.
Ivey promptly went into absolute agony on the floor as he was tended to by the Pistons medical staff. Eventually, one of Ivey’s teammates grabbed a towel from the bench to cover his leg, and the rest of the team formed a circle around him.
It was a stretcher used to transport Ivy off the court as the arena watched in hushed silence. Ivy’s teammate, Ozar Thompsonwas seen wiping away tears.
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Sources ESPN said on Thursday, Jan. 2, that Ivey suffered a broken fibula in his left leg and will likely miss the rest of the season.
“It’s difficult. It’s tough for all of us,” the Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff said after the match. “There’s no better teammate, JI guy Nobody, who cares more about this thing than him. It’s hard to see.”
Bickerstaff, 45, added: “At the heart of this team and what we’ve tried to preach all year since we’ve been here is togetherness. If one person goes down, you don’t want to let them down, so everyone else has to step up. Again, it’s the emotions, it’s the human aspect of it, but I thought our guys did a really good job of just sticking together and getting it done.”
Pistons star Cade Cunningham said Ivey’s injury was “tough on the whole group”.
“Seeing him hurt like that is hard for us,” Cunningham, 23, told reporters. “He’s made for it, he’ll shudder to know it. He will work his tail off and be better than ever when he comes back. It’s hard to see that for sure.
After the injury occurred, Cunningham explained that he gathered the team for “prayer.”
“We just wanted to get together and talk about it and make sure everybody was on the same page about what we needed to do from this point forward,” Cunningham said.
Ivey, who was selected by the Pistons with the fifth pick in the 2022 NBA draft, averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
The Pistons return to action on Friday, January 3 against the Charlotte Hornets.
