Injuries to NBA star players are up this season. Steve Kerr says pace, spacing of modern game to blame.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is out for at least a couple of weeks with a groin strain. Anthony Davis remains sidelined in Dallas with a calf strain. Victor Wembanyama is out with a strained calf. Wemby’s star teammates Stephon Castle (hip) and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper (calf) are out. Ja Morant is out with a calf strain.

If it feels like injuries to the NBA’s biggest names — especially soft tissue injuries — are on the rise, it’s because they are. The numbers are shocking, as Tom Haberstroh laid out at Yahoo Sports. (Note: He defines a star by using the NBA’s definition in its Player Participation Policy, an All-Star or All-NBA player within the past three years. There are 45 such players in the league.)

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“All told, NBA stars have already missed over 200 games this season due to injury or illness, doubling the total we saw at this point two years ago … For a league fighting the image that star players aren’t playing enough, this season’s power outage is especially alarming. In 2023-24, with the first year of the midseason tournament seeming to motivate its biggest names to suit up, star players played 87.2% of its games by this juncture of the season (12 games in). Last season, it dipped to 82.6%. This season, the bottom has fallen out, with star participation falling to 67.6%.”

It’s worth noting that while star players are missing more games, overall injuries are not up, including soft tissue injuries.

What is different this year is that teams are being more cautious with their injured stars. Fresh in the minds of fans, team medical staffs, owners, and everyone else is the image of Tyrese Haliburton pounding the court during Game 7 of the NBA Finals, after trying to play through a sore calf and tearing his Achilles. Same with Jayson Tatum tearing his Achilles after playing through a sore calf. Same with Damian Lillard, who is out this season after tearing his Achilles while playing through a sore calf.

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The volume of injuries to stars is real and concerning.

Steve Kerr concerned

The rise in injuries has drawn the attention of a lot of people, including Golden State coach Steve Kerr. He blamed…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/injuries-nba-star-players-season-161744573.html

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Publish date : 2025-11-20 16:17:00

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