NBA 2019-20: 5 teams most impacted by injuries
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.
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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.