Celtics' Sullinger done for season (back surgery)

[FlyGirl]

BOSTON -- Boston Celtics rookie forward Jared Sullinger will require surgery for a back injury and will miss the remainder of the season, Yahoo! Sports reported on Friday.

Sullinger left Wednesday's game against the Sacramento Kings just four minutes in with back spasms and did not return. Though he did not practice on Thursday and missed the team's morning shootaround on Friday, coach Doc Rivers and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge both initially downplayed the severity of the injury.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/...ry-report-says

[DirtySouf]

Wow!!!

[PelsFan2313]

Boston has got the injury bug hard.

Unfortunate to hear, I feel bad for them.

[RaisingTheBar]

Sucks for them. Wasn't there health questions about him coming into the NBA?

Their season ended when Rondo went down anyway.

[LoCo89]

Ouch, when it rains it pours...

Weren't the red flags predraft on Sully for his back?

[Emilio]

Ouch, when it rains it pours...

Weren't the red flags predraft on Sully for his back?

Yes, that's why he fell to pos. 21 in the draft.

[Pelicans_fan_504]

sad to hear but thats why teams stayed away. Yall remember when the mocks had us taking him at #10

[Vetler]

everyone was like: "oh whar a steal! why did no other team reach for him earlier?" Now here is the reason!

[nolaslim213]

Not surprised. They wouldn't have even gotten him had he not had a major red flag for his back. They chose to take the gamble, and it didn't pay off.

Hope he gets better though. He was looking good over there.

[Kurgan]

Thank goodness we didn't pick him. Ah well, hope he'll be ok. Celtics gonna be tanking in the worst draft of the last decades, bad luck

[MonsterMash]

Not surprised. They wouldn't have even gotten him had he not had a major red flag for his back. They chose to take the gamble, and it didn't pay off.

Hope he gets better though. He was looking good over there.

I don't think you can say it didn't pay off, unless he can't come back from this. Sullinger was looking really good and played much better than a slew of guys picked before him.

[da ThRONe]

I don't think you can say it didn't pay off, unless he can't come back from this. Sullinger was looking really good and played much better than a slew of guys picked before him.

This it's not like his game is predicated on athleticism. This could be a minor setback or a career ending thing calling it now is far too soon. At 21 it's really not that big of a lost for the Celtics. If he does come back he'll have to be lighter and leaner. He's still 20(I believe) after all and definitely playing the game too heavy.

[Inner_GI]

Look at Robin Lopez to see how a back injury severely limits you for years to come. Now, Lopez does seem to have more spring in his step this year, but we cannot ignore how serious back injuries are just because Sullinger was selected 21st.

Also, Dwight Howard hasn't been the same since the back issue, granted Howard is a freak of nature, so I think Robin Lopez is a better comparison.

[BallSoHard]

Not surprised. They wouldn't have even gotten him had he not had a major red flag for his back. They chose to take the gamble, and it didn't pay off.

Hope he gets better though. He was looking good over there.

Yeah, I think they'd be happy to have him 50ish games per season for his first 6 years or so. They really should be watching his total games played every year.

[BallSoHard]

Look at Robin Lopez to see how a back injury severely limits you for years to come. Now, Lopez does seem to have more spring in his step this year, but we cannot ignore how serious back injuries are just because Sullinger was selected 21st.

Also, Dwight Howard hasn't been the same since the back issue, granted Howard is a freak of nature, so I think Robin Lopez is a better comparison.

Howard is still recovering as well. He shows flashes of being his former self. How do I know? I foolishly picked the lakers as one of my LP teams thinking they'd be special to watch.

[Purple Haze]

They knew the risks. Sucks because he's a good dude, some guys are just dealt a crappy health hand.

[Biasvasospasm]

I still don't think this is a bad pick by Boston. Very, very few guys drafted after the lottery become anything but fringe players. Was a good gamble.

[harschman]

He opted for the surgery b/c it is supposed to fix his back issues permanently.

[UNO Gracias]

I still don't think this is a bad pick by Boston. Very, very few guys drafted after the lottery become anything but fringe players. Was a good gamble.

Seeing how much we love Gordon through all of his injuries, Sullinger would be right up this fan bases alley.

[BallSoHard]

Seeing how much we love Gordon through all of his injuries, Sullinger would be right up this fan bases alley.

Please explain this comment.

[Inner_GI]

Seeing how much we love Gordon through all of his injuries, Sullinger would be right up this fan bases alley.

You're just as fanboyish in your hate for Gordon as some people are about Gordon.

No many people love Gordon through his injuries. Some people here do understand the concept of giving him time to recover while also improving his game. What's the point in playing back-to-backs when this team has nothing to play for but a draft pick?

Do you want us to play Gordon 39 minutes a game so he can re-injure something and sit out make 58 million dollars? It's called be safe/cautious when there is no reason to be risky. Do you think Davis should have missed 12 games or so this year if this was a year where we could contend?

[BallSoHard]

You're just as fanboyish in your hate for Gordon as some people are about Gordon.

No many people love Gordon through his injuries. Some people here do understand the concept of giving him time to recover while also improving his game. What's the point in playing back-to-backs when this team has nothing to play for but a draft pick?

Do you want us to play Gordon 39 minutes a game so he can re-injure something and sit out make 58 million dollars? It's called be safe/cautious when there is no reason to be risky. Do you think Davis should have missed 12 games or so this year if this was a year where we could contend?

It's not even that. It' the fact at Gordon is who we have. If you dislike him, think he's injury prone and want him gone, then you need to root for him doing well so he has value and someone will even want to take him and his contract. If you like him and think he's injury prone you still have to be patient and root for him and hope he doesn't get hurt. Whatever side you're on you have to root for him to do well unless you have no foresight or are rooting for the franchise to sink.

[UNO Gracias]

Please explain this comment.

People like Gordon. Gordon is often injured. Sullinger is a guy who is often injured. People here would like him.

[hagios]

People like Gordon. Gordon is often injured. Sullinger is a guy who is often injured. People here would like him.

oooh...does he have a unibrow too? cause then we for sure would automatically like him.

Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk 2

[UNO Gracias]

oooh...does he have a unibrow too? cause then we for sure would automatically like him.

Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk 2

A unibrow would make his jersey the top seller among the hornetsreport fan base.