One of the few bright spots in a dismal early Nets season has been rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who has energized the team’s starting lineup with his activity and defensive aggression. According to ESPN’s “Real Plus-Minus” statistic, Hollis-Jefferson has been the most impactful shooting guard in the NBA on the defensive end by a significant margin.
That bright spot dimmed a factor this weekend. Hollis-Jefferson sprained his right ankle during the team’s Saturday practice, entering the arena Sunday to watch the team take on the Golden State Warriors on crutches and wearing a walking boot. Hollis-Jefferson ditched the boot by the end of the night, but walked gingerly on crutches through the locker room before leaving the arena. The right ankle is the same one that he hurt in preseason, causing him to miss about a week of action.
How might he react? It’s not clear, but while at Arizona, Hollis-Jefferson had this to say about an injury to his college teammate Stanley Johnson: “Whenever something happens injury-wise, it hurts a player’s confidence or sends them bad signals … It’s tough to talk about that.”
There was no update on Hollis-Jefferson’s status as of Sunday night, and the team’s next update will likely come during their Monday practice.