by James Wiseman’s first season with the Indiana Pacers will officially consist of less than a quarter of basketball.
After leaving the Pacers’ season opener with a non-contact injury in the first quarter on Wednesday, the big man was diagnosed with a torn left Achilles tendon, the Pacers announced. The setback is the latest for the 23-year-old, whose career has been plagued by injuries since the Golden State Warriors selected him No. 2 in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Wiseman left Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons after apparently sustaining the injury while backpedaling from a three-pointer from the top of the key. He awkwardly put his left leg up and then looked around as if he thought someone had made contact with him. There was no one there.
He then had difficulty walking in the middle of the pitch and needed the help of teammate Obi Toppin to hobble off the ground. He immediately went to the Pacers’ locker room and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game with a calf injury. Further details about Wiseman’s injury were not immediately disclosed.
Another injury for Wiseman
Wiseman joined the Pacers this offseason after spending last season and more with the Pistons. He spent his first two-plus NBA seasons with Golden State.
Knee and wrist injuries limited Wiseman to 39 games as a rookie on an experienced Warriors team. He then missed the entire 2021–22 season due to a torn meniscus while with Golden State on their way to the NBA Championship.
The Warriors traded Wiseman to the Pistons before the midseason trade deadline in 2023, and he has been a journeyman ever since. He saw the most action of his career in 63 games with the Pistons last season and was traded to the Pacers this offseason as Myles Turner’s backup.
Now a once promising career, already doomed by injuries, will miss another season.
