Nene did not start, and will not play against the Grizzlies for personal reasons. Those reasons are unspecified and are not yet known to the public. Personal reasons is the best case scenario for Nene to be missing a game, as he has missed many throughout his career because of injury. Drew Gooden will start in his place.
This may be the best possible game for Nene to be missing, as the Grizzlies are playing without their starting frontcourt of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Gasol, Randolph, Tony Allen, and Mike Conley are all taking the night off for rest before they take on the Bucks at home on Saturday.
Before Nene had to miss the game, he was poised for a huge performance, but now that he is missing the game, Marcin Gortat is going to have to take on a load of the scoring in the paint. Against the depleted Grizzlies team, Gortat should be able to take on this duty all by himself.
For both Wizards fans and fans of basketball, let us all hope that nothing serious is wrong with Nene. Hopefully, he will be back when the Wizards take on the Kings at home on Saturday.
