Pistons’ Jaden Ivey Exits Game On Stretcher After Apparent Left Leg Injury

Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey was taken off the court on a stretcher Wednesday after sustaining a leg injury in a game against the Magic. Ivey’s teammates were visibly shaken as the 22-year-old could not stand under his own power and had to be wheeled out of the arena.

“It’s tough. It’s tough on all of us,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters after the game. “No better teammate, person than J.I. No one who cares more about this thing than him. It’s tough to see.”

Ivey had 22 points in the fourth quarter when he suffered his leg injury. Chasing a loose ball, the young playmaker collided with Cole Anthony, getting his left leg trapped under Anthony as the Magic guard was falling. Ivey seemed to feel immediate pain after falling himself, grabbing at his left calf without making any attempt to stand up. 

Bickerstaff did not provide any updates on Ivey’s status after the game, but the circumstances surrounding his exit point to a severe injury. Any sort of ankle fracture or ligament tear could end Ivey’s season, his third in the NBA as a member of a rebuilding Pistons team.

Alongside 23-year-old point guard Cade Cunningham, Ivey has assumed a major role on one of the league’s youngest rosters over the past three seasons. The Pistons, who have not won 25 games in a season since 2019, are on pace to do so this year because of their maturing talent. With a 15-18 record, they already have more wins than they did at the end of their dreadful 2023-24 campaign.

Losing Ivey for an extended period of time, a seemingly inescapable fate based on his exit, could be detrimental to a Pistons team grinding its way to a playoff berth in a weak Eastern Conference. The young talent is Detroit’s second highest scorer this season, and though the team has more reliable depth than it has in previous years, it will still take time for players to properly adjust to his absence on the floor.