The Utah Jazz haven’t been exactly lighting the world on fire this season as many people expected them to do. Their defense has been in the top five in all of the major team defensive categories but they still only have an 8-8 record on the season.
It’s still early so they still have time to recover and get well above the .500 mark on the season. The only issue is, as they fight to prove they belong in the NBA, they are now faced with an injury to one of their best players in big man Rudy Gobert.
Following from an official Utah Jazz press release.
The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert:
After sustaining a left knee injury during today’s practice at Zions Bank Basketball Center, Gobert underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) this afternoon at University of Utah Health Care’s Orthopaedic Center. Following the examination, Jazz physicians Dr. Travis Maak and Dr. David Petron determined that Gobert suffered a Grade II sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee.
No surgery is required and Gobert will be out indefinitely. Further updates will be provided when appropriate.
Gobert’s numbers won’t light the world on fire but he is important to the Jazz defense. Gobert is the lynchpin to everything Utah does on the defensive end and his shot blocking can’t be denied. He has been dunked on a couple of times this season but that is just an anomaly to his overall body of work.
On the season, Gobert has played and started in 14 of the Jazz’s 16 games averaging 9.2 points per game with 10.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, good for the lead in the NBA. It’s unclear how long Gobert will be out but there is one positive. He won’t need any surgery on the injury.
