It was a tough day for NBA fans when Thunder No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, ruling him out for his entire rookie season.
The 20-year-old suffered the injury playing in the CrawsOver Pro-Am in Seattle over the weekend as he attempted to stop LeBron James on a fast break before coming up hobbling.
For those of you saying, “I told you so,” in reference to Holmgren’s stature and ability to handle NBA-level physicality — just stop. The rare talent had already put together an impressive showing at NBA Summer League, showcasing all of the unique skills that make him the highly touted prospect he is.
MORE: Holmgren shows why NBA’s increased spacing could unleash scoring ability
And although we’re robbed of seeing Holmgren prove himself in real NBA games this season, this injury is far from declaring anything about how the Gonzaga product will fare at the next level in the future.
The saying is, “a minor setback for a major comeback,” and the blueprint is already there for Holmgren, who will look to fall in line behind other current NBA stars who suffered season-ending injuries before their NBA careers got underway.
Blake Griffin, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — who have a combined 14 All-Star appearances — all missed their rookie years due to season-ending injuries in the offseason.
All three future stars went on to have dominating rookie campaigns following a year of recovery and training, and Griffin and Simmons both went on to take home Rookie of the Year honors.
What were the injuries sustained to those three stars and can Holmgren follow that same path?
Blake Griffin
Injury: Knee — Non-displaced stress fracture in left patella
Griffin dealt with nagging injuries to both of his knees in college and those issues ended up delaying the start of his NBA career. The No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft was forced to miss his entire rookie season after suffering a non-displaced stress fracture in his left patella during his final preseason game.
After a year of training and recovery, Griffin came back to have one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.
The 21-year-old averaged a jaw-dropping 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, becoming the first rookie since Yao Ming in 2003 to be selected for the All-Star Game. Over a decade later, Griffin is still the last rookie to be selected to the All-Star team.
Griffin went on to be a unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year, and he even earned a few MVP votes.
Joel Embiid
Injury: Foot — Stress fracture to navicular bone in right foot
Embiid’s situation is a little bit different than Holmgren, Griffin or Simmons because he missed his first two NBA seasons due to injury and then got hurt again during his rookie campaign.
Embiid had plenty of injury concerns coming into the NBA as he dealt with a back injury during his freshman season at Kansas. Teams were already beginning to shy away from the big man because of the back issue, and then Embiid suffered a stress fracture in his right foot just before the draft.
The stress fracture caused Embiid to miss his entire rookie season and as he began to ramp things up for his NBA debut the following year, he rebroke the same bone in his right foot during the offseason.
Now two years removed from what should have been his rookie year, Embiid finally made his debut in 2016-17, and he dominated until the injury bug came for him again.
Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.1 assists over 31 games, but he suffered a season-ending meniscus tear midway through his “rookie” season.
He made a full recovery and has been relatively healthy since then, earning five All-Star selections, four All-NBA selections, three All-Defense selections and most recently, an NBA scoring title.
Ben Simmons
Injury: Foot — Fracture of fifth metatarsal bone in right foot
Simmons’ situation is the most comparable to Holmgren’s, as the 2016 No. 1 overall pick suffered a foot injury during a scrimmage ahead of his rookie season.
Simmons fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot (commonly known as a Jones fracture) and he was originally expected to return sometime during the season before the tanking 76ers elected to hold him out for the year.
When Simmons finally made his NBA debut the following season, the 21-year-old looked as polished as ever, going on to average 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
Not only did Simmons take home Rookie of the Year honors, but he also helped lead the 76ers to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He proved that one year of recovery and training prepared him to hit the ground running for his NBA career — a blueprint Holmgren will look to replicate as he goes through the rehab process this upcoming year.
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