The Pistons guard is sidelined indefinitely after a terrifying fall, but he avoided a more serious injury.
Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey had to be carried off the floor on a stretcher after suffering a terrifying leg injury against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. Ivey’s injury happened in the fourth quarter when Magic guard Cole Anthony dove into his legs going for a loose ball.
Ivey sustained a broken fibula in his left leg, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. It isn’t known yet if Ivey can return to play this season. An optimistic timeline for a broken fibula would be 6-8 weeks, but’s possible he could be out much longer than that.
Here’s the play Ivey was injury on, with video of him leaving the floor in a stretcher. Warning: this video is tough to watch if you’re squeamish.
Jaden Ivey left game in stretcher after apparent leg injury. Hope he’s ok pic.twitter.com/tBiVOScskm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 2, 2025
It should be considered good news that Ivey doesn’t have any structural damage to his knee. He also avoided a possible dislocated ankle. Our Pistons community Detroit Bad Boys has more on Ivey’s injury:
Losing Ivey for most or all of the season would be a devastating blow to a Pistons team that should be celebrating notching more wins this season than they had all of last, earning their 15th win on Jan. 1, and 3.5 months to go in the season.
Instead, they will be contemplating life without one of their best and most dynamic players. Ivey was having a great game against Orlando before the injury, with 22 points, including hitting 5-of-6 from deep and bringing his season 3-point shooting percentage above 40%.
Now the Pistons will need to contemplate how to replace Ivey’s explosive scoring in the starting lineup and his role as a point guard when Cade Cunningham gets rest.
Ivey was enjoying the best season of his career before the injury. The third-year guard out of Purdue is averaging 17.6 points, four assists and four rebounds per game on 56.9 percent true shooting (just about league average) while making 40.1 percent of his threes on nearly five attempts per game.
The Pistons have dreams of making the playoffs this season, and Ivey’s injury is a big blow. The team is currently in the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference at 15-18 overall. Detroit beat Orlando, 105-96, on Wednesday night.
