‘We don’t have enough time to recover’: Is the NBA game outpacing the players?

Standing near half-court with a towel draped over his shoulders, Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein attempted to drum up encouragement for his rookie deputy Aday Mara as he approached the bench. Teammates Micah Peavy and Bennett Stirtz waited to do the same, while occasionally tilting their heads back at the jumbotron, which flashed a deficit of nearly 20 points. Veteran guard Alex Caruso, dressed in street clothes, could only clap his hands in hopes of bringing a jolt of energy that simply would not come in a 119-98 loss to the Rockets — an unimaginable, disheartening new normal. 

The 2026-27 season kicked off a fortnight ago, but Oklahoma City has already endured a campaign’s worth of misfortune. Jalen Williams, lost to a fractured left fibula and a dislocated ankle. Cason Wallace, lost to a torn left labrum. Chet Holmgren, lost to a right patellar tendon tear. A tight-knit group that has always preached the importance of being where their feet are now is struggling to find its footing. A team that stood atop basketball’s pinnacle less than 18 months ago now is dealing with questions about ever seriously challenging again, despite still boasting the reigning MVP and a former Coach of the Year. It’s a unique type of hoops purgatory the organization hasn’t experienced before.

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“The morale’s been pretty good all things considered,” Mark Daigneault said on Saturday. “A week ago, the circumstances were a lot different than they are today. We understand that. We try to have an approach that can transcend these circumstances and the guys have done a great job. Obviously, the challenge is a little different now than it was prior to those injuries, but we have to recalibrate to what the challenge is and attack it a day and a game at a time.”

While injuries have always been a part of the game, especially when competing at the highest level of the sport in the world, the widespread volume and degree of ailments is troubling. One team being suddenly down 60% of its projected starting lineup is one thing, albeit a needle-in-a-haystack type probability. But the list of unavailables — Anthony Edwards, Tyrese…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/we-dont-have-enough-time-to-recover-is-the-nba-game-outpacing-the-players-170940254.html

Author : Kelly Iko

Publish date : 2026-11-03 17:09:00

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