Andrei Kirilenko and J.R Smith sustain serious injuries abroad - NBA Update
NBA players pursuing overseas opportunities will be having second thoughts after what happened to Andrei Kirilenko and J.R Smith over the weekend.
Utah Jazz’s star Andrei Kirilenko recently moved to his homeland, Russia, to represent CSKA Moscow in the Turkish Euroleague 2011 and immediately made an impact after leading the team to five consecutive victories. He has been
prolific in the tournament so far and if he continues with the way he is performing, he might lead the team to a title.
But the question is will he be appearing in any more games?
CSKA faced a major setback this weekend when Andrei Kirilenko, while trying to steal the ball, got hit by it on face and broke his nose. The injury was so severe that Kirilenko laid down on the floor unconscious for few seconds
with blood flowing from his eyes before the team’s staff and players rushed towards him.
However fortunately after a while, some movement was seen from him and he was escorted to changing room, where he received minor preliminary treatment. Some tests will now be run on his nose and left shoulder, which made an impact
with the floor after he fell. However, the Utah Jazz star he will surely be missing a few weeks or probably the whole remaining Euroleague, if something serious is diagnosed. If the latter happens, this would be a massive setback for CSKA and their chances
of getting a shot at title would be seriously hurt.
Kirilenko has by far been the best player in the Euroleague, leading the tournament in performance index rating with an outstanding average of 29.4. He is also leading in both rebounds and blocked shots with 9 rebounds and 3.2
per game respectively.
However Andrei should consider himself fortunate after what happened to Denver Nuggets star J.R Smith in China the very next day.
J.R Smith’s first game for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls turned out to be a nightmare as midway through the game, while attempting a jumper, he landed on his knee and hurt it so badly that he could not even walk back to the locker
room. The agony was obvious from his facial expressions and he was immediately escorted to hospital in the arena’s ambulance.
No particulars about the injury are out yet but things don’t look too good and it looks like he will be heading back home and miss the entire Chinese League or even the NBA season if the lockout ends and a shortened season commences.
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