Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the Brooklyn Nets' small forward, injured his ankle during a practice this weekend. While it was initially thought to be a sprain by the team, unfortunately results revealed it's a broken bone and would need surgery.
Hollis-Jefferson, 20, was seen walking with crutches following Sunday's game, as reported by CBS Sports. A surgery is required to fix his broken bone which he suffered during a practice last Saturday. The Brooklyn Nets will release a timeline for his improvement after the surgery.
His rookie season will be put on hold while he is recovering, although he had settled into a starting role for the Nets. In the meantime, Bojan Bogdanovic will be replacing him in the starting lineup.
The injury was officially diagnosed as a non-displaced fracture of the posterior talus, right ankle, according to reports.
"I was stunned, I was shocked. It's hurtful to be in that situation," said Hollis-Jefferson in an interview on Monday. "Trying to be one of the best rookies, working really hard and then you get news like that; you don't really know what to say. You're at a loss for words."
According to ESPN, Hollis-Jefferson said that he was guarding Bogdanovic, and it just happened. "It was a really bad roll," he said.
Hollis-Jefferson is very good in defense. He has an average of 5.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He has made 14 starts this season.
"We're going to miss his physicality, his size, 6-7, his ability to go get rebounds, get hands on the ball," the Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. "We're going to miss that. But how much, how bad? We'll have to see as we go along."
On the other hand, Bogdanovic, who will replace Hollis-Jefferson in his absence, has an average of 4.3 points on 32.1 percent shooting in his past 11 games. He started during the team's Sunday's loss to the Golden State Warriors.
