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Key Pelicans player suffers scary injury during FIBA AmeriCup
New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Key Pelicans player suffers scary injury during FIBA AmeriCup

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado had to be stretchered off the court while playing for Puerto Rico at the FIBA AmeriCup 2025.

The injury happened with a little over two minutes remaining in overtime of the quarterfinal matchup against Argentina after Alvarado fell on his back fighting for an offensive rebound.

The 27-year-old laid on the court for several minutes, visibly in a considerable amount of pain.

Medical staff at the arena brought out a neck brace and then placed him on a stretcher before taking him off the court.

Before exiting the game, Alvarado had a game-high 25 points, although Puerto Rico ultimately lost, 82-77.

The Pelicans, who begin training camp on Sept. 24, have had quite the bad luck when it comes to injuries to key players, and they will be hoping that Alvarado's injury wasn't as bad as it appeared to be.

The team already got unfortunate news in July when it was announced that first-round draft pick Derik Queen had to undergo wrist surgery and will be re-evaluated in October.

Other key Pelicans players including Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones are also coming off of surgeries of their own, so time will tell just how healthy the Pelicans are before the start of the season.

Chris Tulp

Chris Tulp is a sportswriter who started his writing career covering the NBA. He then wrote for FIBA, covering numerous international events and leagues and even attended the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia. He brings niche knowledge of global players, both playing domestically and overseas

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