Indiana Pacers center James Wiseman. David Richard-Imagn Images

Former No. 2 overall pick suffers non-contact injury in NBA season opener

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Oct 23, 2024 9:55 PM ET

A former lottery pick’s redemption bid may be over before it even begins.

Indiana Pacers big man James Wiseman suffered a worrisome non-contact injury during Wednesday’s season opener against the Detroit Pistons. In the first quarter, Wiseman missed on a three-point shot and then, while trying to take a routine step towards the ball, seemingly felt something in his left calf area.

Wiseman had to be helped off the floor by Pacers teammate Obi Toppin and was ruled out for the rest of the game shortly after. Here is the video.

James Wiseman goes down after a non-contact injury and will not return tonight

Hope he's okay pic.twitter.com/j97carLJeZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2024

The seven-footer Wiseman, still only 23 years old, signed with the Pacers in the offseason after spending last season with the Detroit Pistons (making 63 appearances and averaging 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game). Wiseman was the No. 2 overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2020 NBA Draft but failed to live up to his high price tag with them and is widely considered to be a bust at this point.

Wiseman already dealt with an unfortunate knee injury that kept him out for the entire 2021-22 season and required multiple surgeries to fix. Now there looks to be some real concern about another serious injury for the ex-University of Memphis star Wiseman, this time just one game into the new NBA season.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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