Why did Jalen Suggs leave Magic vs Raptors on wheelchair? Contextualizing his back injury niggles

The depleted Orlando Magic have given an injury update on Jalen Suggs after he left the game against the Raptors via a wheelchair.

Why did Jalen Suggs leave Magic vs Raptors on wheelchair? Contextualizing his back injury niggles

The Orlando Magic have given an injury update on Jalen Suggs

23-year-old star Jalen Suggs signed a 5-year, $150.5 million contract extension with the Orlando Magic this past summer. At the time, the young guard couldn’t have bargained for the kind of injury troubles the Orlando Magic faced recently. The Magic roster list has resembled a hospital room recently. Furthermore, there’s more bad news from last night for the depleted team.

Jalen Suggs was carted off the Scotiabank Arena court in the second quarter. The 23-year-old predictably did not return by end the game, where the Magic held essentially a wire-to-wire lead and won 106-97 against the Toronto Raptors. At the time of his injury, Suggs had logged 13 minutes of action, tallying 6 points, an assist and 2 rebounds. Fortunately for Orlando, they had other guard defenders to rely on.

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Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley later provided an update about the injury that Jalen Suggs has dealt with. The back spasms, he said, were why the player left the court. This piece of news would be welcome to the Orlando Magic fans’ ears, considering that they have an injury list, which includes stars Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero.

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Jalen Suggs injury history

Jalen Suggs has already had a rather injury-filled 4th NBA season thus far. He’s been diagnosed with a wrist injury, an ankle issue and a hamstring strain earlier in the season. However, the player soldiered through his pain for much of it, given the debilitated status of their injury-plagued roster.

At various point, fans wondered about the injury update of Jalen Suggs. He only played 53 games last year as well, missing time with groin, ankle and knee issues. The 23-year-old is a crucial member of the Magic’s long-term plans, as shown by their max contract commitment.

Losing a DPOY candidate, as Suggs has richly shown himself to be, for any period of time, remains hard. But Orlando have, thus far, shown an amazing ability to display the ‘next man up’ mentality this year. The ‘dark horse’ contender Orlando Magic will rely on the likes of Cole Anthony and Cory Joseph in his absence to pick up despite the alarming injury list.

Jalen Suggs has been a DPOY candidate

Suggs has made a compelling case to become the rare guard defender who stakes a DPOY claim. Fans and experts alike have already given rave reviews of his defensive abilities based on his first 3 years. But he’s gone above and beyond that stuff this year.

The 23-year-old All-Defensive team selection has upped his ability to switch. He’s now being trusted to guard even 4s and 5s on switches, and he’s often held his own. Meanwhile, his pest-like ability to disrupt ball-handlers has been on even more of a display this year.

If Suggs is able to make a comeback soon, he can stay eligible for NBA postseason awards. Based on the game film he’s yielded this year, NBA writers will be compelled to consider him among the top DPOY contenders. This is even if Victor Wembanyama ends up running away with the award!