Recently, the Indiana Pacers received some devastating news when it was announced that young forward Bennedict Mathurin would be out for the remainder of the season due to a season-ending surgery on his shoulder, originally reported by ESPN. Mathurin had played a huge role in what had been a revamped Pacers squad on both sides of the ball this year, and now Indiana will have to forge ahead into the playoffs without the talented youngster.
Recently, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle broke down just how devastating of an injury this will be for the squad moving forward.
“It’s an enormous loss. Guy that’s experiencing a tremendous amount of growth,” said Carlisle, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
Carlisle also broke down why he believes that Bennedict Mathurin will be back stronger than ever in the future.
“One of the future pillars of this franchise. Not even any question about it… he’s one of our top players, and one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around,” said Carlisle, per the Indiana Pacers’ official team account on X.
Indeed, throughout his short stint with the team so far, Mathurin has established himself as having one of the highest motors on the team, consistently providing energy and hustle to the lineup in addition to his natural talent.
In any case, the Pacers will next take the floor on Tuesday evening against the top team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on the road.
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