Ohio State product E.J. Liddell might have felt disappointment when he fell to the 41st pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but the New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward’s injury on Monday could end up being even more disappointing for him.
The Pelicans took on the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Summer League on Monday and Liddell took a tough fall and needed some assistance getting off the floor. However, he was later able to return to the game.
E.J. Liddell has returned to the Pelicans bench. https://t.co/QEz89rIeJN
— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) July 11, 2022
Unfortunately, that first fall may have been foreshadowing as Liddell would later fall to the ground again, this time clucking his knee and refusing to put weight on it. He was helped off the floor by several teammates and did not return to the game.
E.J. Liddell is down again. He's holding the same knee that he hurt earlier in the game and needed help getting up. He's not putting any weight on it. https://t.co/RkLTv0tRR0
— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) July 11, 2022
E.J. Liddell had to be helped off the floor by a pair of teammates after falling to the court with a second leg injury. He's headed back to locker room
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) July 11, 2022
Officially a right knee injury for EJ Liddell, he will not return #Pelicans
— Erin Summers (@ErinESummers) July 11, 2022
Of course, it’s too early to know for sure what the extent of Liddell’s injuries will be but it did not look good according to those watching. And the reaction from the NBA world has a lot of people worried about the worst for the rookie.
This sure doesn't sound like good news… https://t.co/7a9rYAix0P
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) July 11, 2022
Oh no… https://t.co/zneE8p4xpV
— Patrick Murphy (@_Pat_Murphy) July 11, 2022
absolutely brutal after he went down earlier with the same knee and got it checked out and apparently cleared to come back in
— Robby Kalland (@RKalland) July 11, 2022
EJ Liddell wasn’t putting any weight on his right leg as he got helped off. That did not look good.
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) July 11, 2022
Okay, just shut down the Pelicans Summer League team. No more injuries. EJ Liddell not putting any weight on his right leg
— Jake Madison (@NOLAJake) July 11, 2022
The Ohio State phenom averaged 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.6 blocks per game last season and was looking to make his mark on the Summer League in order to start a revenge tour against all the NBA teams that passed on him. Hopefully, he still gets his chance this year.
