The Portland Trail Blazers have had a rough season with multiple player injuries. Between Damian Lillard, who suffered a core muscle injury, to Cody Zellner, who fractured his right patella, along with several other players, the team has struggled to remain intact and in top form.
Unfortunately, this trend is poised to continue.
On Monday, January 31st, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that Nassir Little was set to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum and would miss the rest of the season. While Little has not been known as an exceptional player in the past, the athlete made dramatic improvements earlier in the season and seemed to be having something of a “breakout” experience.
Little started 23 games this season, a career high, and will close it out with 9.8 points per game, another career high. Most recently, the player was scoring 19 and 20 points per game and fans were expecting further achievements before the end.
The injury occurred during the fourth quarter of the team’s game against Minnesota. Despite acute initial pain, Little did not immediately suspect anything serious was wrong. The accident occurred when the player was up for a rebound and his arm was jostled by the opposing player. Little initially stated that he “got it strained a little bit and it was hurting a lot initially, but after I kind of moved my arm around I realized I was all right”, and he even goes on state that believed he was being “a little bit of a drama queen”.
The Trail Blazers’ official Twitter account updated fans on the player’s injury on Monday, confirming that he would be having surgery to fix the torn labrum located in his right shoulder and would not take part in any further games this season.
What comes next for Little is still unknown, but his teammates and coaches are prepared to help him through whatever the future brings.
