FEBRUARY 17TH, 11:47am: The surgery took place today, the team announced, confirming that Kidd-Gilchrist is out for the season.
FEBRUARY 16TH, 11:05am: Kidd-Gilchrist will have surgery on his torn labrum and indeed miss the rest of the season, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 11TH, 3:22pm: Hornets small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder, as an MRI revealed today and as the team announced. Charlotte did not provide a timetable for his return, stating only that he would be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, but Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer relays that Kidd-Gilchrist is likely out of commission for the remainder of the 2015/16 season.
This marks the second time in the past five months that Kidd-Gilchrist has suffered a right shoulder injury, as he underwent surgery in October to repair the same type of injury after he was hurt during the preseason. Kidd-Gilchrist’s latest injury occurred during Wednesday night’s contest against the Pacers when he hit the court hard and Indiana big man Ian Mahinmi landed on him. Kidd-Gilchrist, who inked a four-year, $52MM extension this past fall, was originally projected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign as a result of his first injury but swiftly recovered and made his season debut January 29th. The Hornets are 5-2 in the games Kidd-Gilchrist played since making his return, edging back into the playoff hunt with a 27-26 record, Bonnell notes.
The 22-year-old, who is best known for his defense and hustle, was averaging 12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists over his seven appearances this season. His career averages are 9.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists to go with a shooting line of .467/.240/.689.
My poor Hornets…..hey at least we are in the 8th spot now! I do feel bad for MKG, he worked really hard to come back, probably too early. Like every other team in the league, the Hornets need a 3 & D guy to play alongside Batum and Marvin.
I was interested to see what would happen with MKG there, and the versatility they have. Was the injury caused by Mahinmi falling on him? I didn’t see it
The sad thing is, MKG was confidently knocking down 3’s in his return. Devastating loss. Cliff should have had him on a minutes restriction until March.
Dude he wasn’t knocking down 3s he was shooting at a 24% clip from long range. That’s terrible. He’s an awesome defender but he’s not going to hit with consistency from outside.
Rough way for MKG’s season to end after his quicker-than-expected return. Let’s hope he comes back strong next season — one of the league’s top defenders and you’ve got to respect players who want to guard the other team’s best player every night.