NBA Teams with the Biggest Injury Gripes in 2021-22 (2024)

You need talent and tactics to win in the NBA, but neither of those components matters without health.

All 30 teams could say their 2021-22 seasons would have been different if not for their misfortune on the injury front, but the ones we'll focus on here can make that statement without the rest of the league rolling its collective eyes.

Oh, really, Phoenix Suns? You might have won 68 games, and not 64, if Chris Paul hadn't hurt his thumb? Woe is you!

That's a real key here, actually. We can't just focus on which team has lost the most player games to injury. To make the list, the absences need to be consequential. Volume matters, but we're mostly talking high-end players that would have made real differences—ideally ones that don't typically get hurt. A team can't really have a gripe if the player who missed timealways misses time. Anthony Davis, who's been out for significant stretches in eight of his 10 professional seasons, comes to mind.

So in addition to the Suns, for whom everything is going to turn out just fine, we're punting on the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and any other successful club whose record hasn't really suffered due to injury.

Ditto for teams at the bottom. The Orlando Magic had their share of health troubles, but they were never going to compete for anything at full strength. And sure, the Washington Wizards lost Bradley Beal in January, but they were 17-23 in games he'd played prior to shutting it down.

Those teams can't complain. The ones we're about to discuss sure can, though.

The only simple aspect of a Brooklyn Nets season complicated by Kyrie Irving's vaccination status, James Harden's forced exodus and a raft of injuries to supporting players is this: With Kevin Durant on the floor, everything tends to work out.

The Nets are 36-34 overall but 28-15 with KD in the lineup (through games played March 17). His absence from Jan. 17 to March 1 coincided with a brutal stretch in which Brooklyn won just five of the 21 games it played. With Durant, the Nets have a winning percentage right in line with the conference-leading Miami Heat. Without him, they perform at an Indiana Pacers/Detroit Pistons level.

We said at the outset that injuries had to be consequential, and they don't get much more consequential than that.

Irving's missed games weren't due to injury, but Harden's hamstring-related sit-outs were (though his desire to leave town might have also been a factor). That the last six of Harden's 11 missed contests with Brooklyn coincided with Durant's absence, generating six losses, also hurt Brooklyn's bottom line.

Don't forget Joe Harris, lost for the season after 14 games, or Nic Claxton, who missed a full month early in the year and then saw action in just five games between Jan. 12 and Feb. 24.

The Nets are still a threat to anyone they meet in a play-in game or a playoff series. Even with all the other nonsense surrounding the team this season, injuries were the main reason they fell short of juggernaut status.

Injuries are usually the product of bad luck. Some, like the one suffered by Alex Caruso on Jan. 21, are a little different.

Grayson Allen, whose reputation for unsportsmanlike conduct precedes him, pulled Caruso out of the air on a layup attempt, leading to an awkward fall that fractured the Chicago Bulls guard's wrist. Allen earned a flagrant 2 and an ejection, but Caruso was sidelined for six weeks. During that stretch, Chicago went a respectable 12-10 but saw its defensive rating slip from109.6 on the night of Caruso's injury to 111.9 by the time he returned.

Caruso's injury was the team's most avoidable one, but it was far from the only issue that compromised an otherwise stellar Bulls season.

Lonzo Ball, a key offensive connector and another defensive weapon alongside Caruso, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Jan. 20 and hasn't played since. Ayo Dosunmu's breakout may not have happened without the playing time those backcourt injuries afforded, but the Bulls would probably have rather just kept their best guards healthy. Dosunmu would have earned a role eventually.

Patrick Williams, another vital defensive piece whom Chicago drafted fourth overall in 2020, played just five games before a wrist injury knocked him out. He, like Ball, has yet to return.

The hits keep coming. Derrick Jones Jr. and Coby White, both rotation fixtures, missed more than 20 games apiece. Regular starter Javonte Green and superstar Zach LaVine also have missed-game totals in the teens. Health and safety protocols were a factor in all four of those players' absences, but that doesn't change the fact that the Bulls have had a tough run of luck this year.

Chicago has weathered the storm admirably, but it may have to settle for a spot in the East's 4-5 playoff matchup. That's a considerably worse draw than it was on pace to earn before the injuries piled up.

Collin Sexton's absence hasn't been great for his pocketbook. The soon-to-be restricted free agent watched his Cleveland Cavaliers excel without him after a torn meniscus ended his season in November. It's now harder to imagine a multiyear offer involving his desired $20 million per season is coming in July.

Let's be careful, though. Cleveland's success without Sexton, who's averaged over 20 points per game and shot better than 37.0 percent from deep in each of his last two healthy seasons, isn't necessarily the result of him being out. It's entirely possible the Cavs would have broken through in an even bigger way with Sexton occupying a sixth-man role that made use of his scoring skill.

The Cavs' dominant defense propelled them into the playoffs this year. Imagine how much higher they could have climbed with Sexton lighting it up on the second unit.

Cleveland lost even more backcourt depth when Ricky Rubio (since traded) tore his ACL.

Bust-out star Darius Garland's back has hampered him for much of the year, and fellow starters Lauri Markkanen (ankle) and Isaac Okoro (elbow and hamstring) join him in the double-digit missed-game club. Oh, and defensive anchor Jarrett Allen's fractured finger has him on the shelf now, too.

Instead of marveling at the fact that Cleveland defied so many expectations by vaulting out of the cellar, maybe we should be thinking more about how much better one of this year's biggest surprises could have been without every starter missing considerable time.

All it's taken for the Denver Nuggets to (so far) narrowly avoid the play-in round is a truly historic season from reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.

It feels fair to assume Denver could be doing much better than that, and possibly contending for the conference crown, if its second- and third-best players had logged more than nine games between them.

Michael Porter Jr. actually accounts for all of those contests, and he did more harm than good early this year before the third back surgery of his young career shelved him. MPJ was a hyper-efficient scoring force last season but, clearly not himself, he put up just 9.9 points on a 35.9/20.8/55.6 shooting split before going under the knife.

Jamal Murray has finally progressed to a G League assignment, but his minute total still sits at zero as he works back from last year's torn ACL.

Other than those two, Denver has mostly avoided major health issues. Of course, that's like saying "other than having no walls or roof, the house looks pretty decent." Jokic is the foundation in this analogy.

There's a good chance both Murray and Porter will be back for the playoffs, but it's not reasonable to expect either one will just stride onto the floor at peak effectiveness. Recovery takes time. Rust doesn't shake off without some effort.

The cost of those two injuries is high. With an MVP playing absolute prime-quality ball, the Nuggets didn't need much else to be legitimate contenders. That they've been this solid with so little help around Jokic speaks to the team's ceiling.

Had Murray and Porter been healthy all year, Denver might be a short-list title favorite right now.

The Golden State Warriors waited 1,005 days to get Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the court together.

They got through 11 minutes before injury pulled them apart again.

Curry is out indefinitely with a ligament sprain in his foot suffered on March 16 against the Boston Celtics. Green had returned from a two-month layoff just two days prior. Thompson missed more than two full seasons, and Green's hiatus started Jan. 9, the night Thompson finally got back onto the floor.

Along with some tiny samples from this year, nearly a decade of history suggests that the Warriors are no-doubt title threats whenever all three of their core stars are healthy. Andre Iguodala, whose defense and adult-in-the-room stewardship of second units still matters, is another piece of that dynastic puzzle who has lost significant time. Back, hip and knee issues have his missed-game count approaching 40.

Finally, though James Wiseman is too young and too raw to be penciled in as a positive contributor, it's never ideal when a No. 2 overall pick is out of action for this long. The hulking center could have at least spelled Kevon Looney in the middle against conventional centers, but he has yet to play this season after going down with a torn meniscus in April 2021. His return could come sooner than Curry's.

We excluded the conference-leading Heat and Suns, despite their injury gripes. You could argue the Warriors, third in the West, should get the same treatment. But I view the fully healthy version of this team as clear championship favorites, and Curry's foot sprain might be absolutely landscape-altering. Those factors and the brutal timing of the Thompson-Green-Curry revolving door of health distinguish the Warriors from the other top-end teams bitten by the injury bug.

The decision to (softly) rebuild by trading Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert was probably the right one, but the Indiana Pacers may never have had to make it if a few key players had been healthier.

Myles Turner is out now and has been since mid-January. It's possible his injury gave Indy the final push it needed to move on from Sabonis and tank the rest of this season. But would that have been the move if T.J. Warren, now officially out for the year, had ever been healthy? Or if TJ McConnell hadn't gone down for good on Dec. 1?

Those two were critical pieces of the puzzle in Indiana. The former was arguably the team's best player when he was last healthy in the bubble, and his unavailability created a gaping hole at forward on both ends. The latter was a vital reserve who ratcheted up the team's defensive intensity and had long helped one of the league's more plodding offenses get a few easy points in transition.

Malcolm Brogdon has missed over a third of the season with all manner of maladies, as he tends to do, and even LeVert was out for 15 of the 55 games Indy played prior to dealing him.

The Pacers are headed for the high lottery now, partially by choice. But given the parity toward the bottom of the East playoff race, they easily could have been in contention for a top-six spot if all hands had been on deck.

In 2019-20, the Los Angeles Clippers went 27-10 with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the lineup. Last season, they upped that mark to 32-11.

And this year?

Well, technically they're undefeated. But that's only because Leonard's sole contribution to the team has been modeling New Balance street clothes on the sideline, while George, the "healthy" half of L.A.'s elite wing duo, has been limited to just 26 contests because of an injured right elbow.

That makes the Clippers the West's version of the Brooklyn Nets: a squad that performs at roughly a 60-win pace when the stars are involved, but one that has to settle for the play-in round when they're not.

George is trending toward a return prior to the playoffs, and that makes the Clippers dangerous—even if Leonard never makes it back. Just ask the Utah Jazz.

Still, without Kawhi, the Clips aren't a contender. The moment he's ready to roll, which will probably come next season, watch out. Because Los Angeles has quietly geared up for a real run a year from now.

Remember, deadline addition Norman Powell is also out for the year, while Nicolas Batum and Marcus Morris Sr. have been sidelined for more than a quarter of the season so far.That injury-hit quintet—Powell, George, Leonard, Batum and Morris—would scare a lot of postseason opponents, and the Clippers' ridiculous wing depth behind that group is basically built for playoff success...in 2023.

Zion Williamson was supposed to be ready for opening night, and then he wasn't.

Here the New Orleans Pelicans are, nearly six months later, and Williamson still has no firm return timetable. At least he's finally in the same timezoneas therest of his team. That's progress.

New Orleans is well-positioned to make the play-in with the Los Angeles Lakers flailing, but much more would have been possible with Williamson in the fold. The sample is small, but whenever Zion has been on the floor, the Pels have performed more like a top-four seed, posting a plus-5.1 net rating in his 2019-20 minutes and a plus-2.1 last year.

Williamson's history indicates the Pels would have been without him for some number of games this season, but growth from Brandon Ingram (who's also missed 19 contests) would have made a few of those Zion-less contests winnable. Further down the depth chart, Kira Lewis Jr. came into the year with a real shot at a rotation role in a depleted backcourt. He got knocked out of action by a torn ACL in December.

If you zoom out, the Pels' right to complain about injuries only gets more justifiable.

If Williamson had been healthy all year, and the team had taken the step forward so many foresaw, it's possible the speculation about the top pick's dissatisfaction with the franchise would have quieted down. Williamson's contentment is a full-on existential concern for the Pelicans, and a healthy, dominant year from him—alongside a blossoming Ingram—could have completely changed the franchise's long-term outlook.

We have to throw the Portland Trail Blazers a mention here, even if the injuries they suffered may have ultimately done some good by triggering a retooling.

Few teams are as dependent on one player as the heliocentric Blazers are on Damian Lillard, a six-time All-Star who entered this season with an earned reputation as an NBA iron man. He didn't miss a single contest until his fourth year and had never been sidelined for more than nine games in any season prior to this one.

If there's a team that could say it was blindsided by injury to a star, it's Portland.

An abdominal injury ended Dame's season after a career-low 29 games.

On top of that, theoretically key offseason acquisition Larry Nance Jr. never got healthy enough to contribute (and was ultimately traded), CJ McCollum missed over a month with a collapsed lung (and was ultimately traded), Cody Zeller's knee betrayed him and emerging forward Nassir Little underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in January.

Portland was 42-30 last year and made impressive on-paper upgrades to the roster over the summer. Tanking as part of a rebuild around Lillard could pay off, but injuries certainly sent the 2021-22 season down a much darker path than expected.