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The only thing that might be as bad as losing is not being able to compete. Players often find themselves faced with the agony of a tedious rehab process coming as a result of an untimely injury. While their team moves on to respect their tight schedule, they in turn, are deserted to lead the path of resurgence on their own.
Leading into the 2019-20 NBA campaign, fans and experts had numerous expectations lined up for their on-court idols to meet. Sadly, a multitude of prominent names have already been to pushed to the sidelines, and we haven't even finished a quarter of the regular season yet.
As an avid follower of the game, it is a unique kind of affliction for the spectators, knowing that much of the storylines coming off this season might not include those nursing their injuries. Seeing some of the game's biggest names going down is the worst. It affects their team's future just as much as that of the player's.
Let's take a look at the five ailing squads that have been hit badly by injuries so far.
#1 Golden State Warriors
From being legit underdogs at the start of the season to looking like a G-league group at this moment, the Golden State Warriors just plummeted from bad to worse to abysmal in a matter of weeks.
As of Sunday, they are missing Stephen Curry (Hand Fracture), Draymond Green (Heel), D'Angelo Russell (Right Thumb), Kevon Looney (Neuropathy), Klay Thompson (Left Knee ACL Tear), Damion Lee (Hand), Jacob Evans (Left Abductor) and Alen Smailagic (Right Ankle Sprain). Their list of injured players is a complete roster in itself.
Also read: NBA Salaries: 5 Teams with the highest wage bills for the 2019-20 season
They have lost nine of their last ten games and are an insurmountable 11.5 games behind the Western Conference leaders in the Los Angeles Lakers. At one point during the year, rumours of the Warriors planning on tanking were circulating through the basketball media, none of which were verified by the authorities. The wrath of injuries cost LeBron James a postseason last year. In all actuality, the same fate might be awaiting Stephen Curry this year around.
#2 New Orleans Pelicans
Rookie sensation Zion Williamson underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn right meniscus and is projected to miss at least six to eight weeks. He is yet to suit up in a regular season game for the drooling New Orleans Pelicans fanbase. Meanwhile, as NOLA miss their star from Duke, they have been failing miserably to capitalise on their dynamic young roster. As a result, Coach Alvin Gentry's side is 6-11 (0.353) this season, down at the 10th spot on the West standings.
Moreover, the Pels are also missing Josh Hart (Knee/Ankle), Derrick Favors (Lower Back Spasms) and Darius Miller (Achilles). Headlined by the talents of Zion, the Pelicans squad was expected to make a positive splash on the NBA landscape. But aside from Brandon Ingram's strong numbers, they barely have any positives to draw out of this season so far.
#3 Brooklyn Nets
Missing out on a year of watching one of NBA's all-time greatest scorers is something that hurts the league just as much as it hurts the Brooklyn Nets franchise. Kevin Durant is expected to miss out a full year of basketball as he nurses his Achilles injury suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals.
As the team was getting accustomed to a Kyrie Irving era, he too went down with a right shoulder issue and is expected to miss the upcoming road trip (and probably more). So, basically, the Nets are back to being the same squad that they were last year minus an All-Star in D'Angelo Russell.
Nevertheless, Brooklyn have somehow managed to maintain a respectable 8-8 win-loss record so far, though their initial lineup was capable of doing much better.
#4 Sacramento Kings
While the Sacramento Kings looked to build upon a fairly positive 2018-19 campaign, they found themselves at the receiving end of some heartbreaking fallouts to prominent names. After playing in 9 games, point guard De'Aaron Fox suffered a sprained ankle during practise and is out for 3 to 4 weeks. Adding to the misery was Marvin Bagley's exit. The sophomore was projected to stage a breakout year before he went down with a broken right thumb.
The consequences of losing two of their most prolific scorers is bound to bite the Kings in the coming days as they are tryind hard to their improve their subpar 7-8 (0467) record so far. They are not even in the top 15 when it comes to offensive and defensive rating are the third worst scoring team at the moment.
#5 Detroit Pistons
After missing 4 of the team's total 16 games played so far, Blake Griffin had some major catching up to do. After playing through a meniscus tear last year, the Detroit Pistons All-Star is back on the court, and needless to say, it was much-awaited from the franchise's standpoint.
Moreover, Reggie Jackson has been ruled out for an indefinite amount of time due to his back issues, while Derrick Rose also suffered a hamstring injury just recently. Adding to the list was Tony Snell who was bugged by his hip and currently stands at day to day. Safe to say, Detroit's start has been marred by a number of injury problems.
As a result, they are hosting the fifth worst record (5-11) in the league, eight games below their Conference leaders in the Milwaukee Bucks.
