James Harden Could Be Out For 4 Plus Weeks

The Brooklyn Nets played host to the Milwaukee Bucks to start their second-round match-up in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately for Brooklyn, it only took 43 seconds into the first quarter for James Haden to injure his hamstring. After the game, Kevin Durant shared that he wasn’t aware anything happened until he saw James walk off the court.

“I didn’t realize what had happened until he had started walking off the court, but we supposed to run [a] play, and he wasn’t in his spot, and I looked at him, he was grimacing,” said Kevin Durant, who had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nets to the win. “It just sucks. It sucks. It sucks because I want him to be out there.

“I know how much he cares. I know how much he wants to be in this moment. It sucks. Wishing him a speedy recovery. Keep him involved as much as possible. It’s just a bad break.”

Nets coach Steve Nash said he was heartbroken for Harden.

“You know we got a lot thrown at us this year, so we were, in a sense, well trained for this event,” Nets coach Steve Nash said after the game. “But you never want to see that for someone like James, who is such an important player and such an incredible player and cares so much.

“I’m heartbroken for him. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if he’s playing the next game, if he’s out. I have no idea. But I’m heartbroken for him that he had to miss tonight.”

According to Dr. Randy Chan, PT, DPT, it could be a Grade 1 right hamstring strain based on Harden’s facial expression. It could be a Grade 2 at most.

“Just looking at the mechanism of injury and his facial expressions, I’m guessing it’s a Grade 1 right hamstring strain, Grade 2 at the most. Keep in mind that this opinion is based on no medical data like MRI results or medical history.

“I would guess James Harden will be out for 4+ weeks, taking into consideration this is the 3rd time he strained the same right hamstring in less than 2.5 months. He might try to push through the pain, but it will dramatically increase the chance of a more severe tear to the same hamstring.”

Last month, former Los Angeles Lakers trainer Marco Nunez was on The ProFanity Nation Podcast in the Los Angeles Lakers Fan Club. Nunez shared that he didn’t know the location of Harden’s injury, but broken down the hamstring injury.

“So, I don’t know where the location of the hamstring injury. Whenever you strain a hamstring, it depends on how close it is to the tendon area or mid-belly or lower, depending on the timeline of when the athlete will return,” said Nunez.

“Hamstrings are very tough, especially in sports diametrically as far as explosiveness and changing direction. So, you have to be very careful; he had a little of a setback. They are very tricky because of the location of the tear, and they haven’t reported where it is at. However, that is a huge component of that.”

The Nets went on to beat the Bucks 115-107. Game two will be on Monday at 7:30 pm EST.