One of the most difficult aspects of playing in any season-long fantasy leagues is the potentially crippling effect that major injuries can have on a team that has the potential to contend for a championship. A fantasy GM could put in a ton of work to scout the best possible team, have a successful draft and then make one or two key trades to build what he considers the perfect fantasy team only to have it ravaged by major injuries. If you owned these five guys, you’re fantasy season was likely torpedoed due to injuries.
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
There is no doubt about the most crippling injury of the NBA fantasy season as the reigning MVP and league’s leading scorer Durant played in only 27 games before being shut down. Anybody that landed Durant heading in to the year probably had to either give up a ton to get him or draft him with one of their top picks but at the time, it would have seemed well worth it to acquire arguably the league’s most dangerous offensive talent and an elite fantasy weapon. He averaged 32 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists a year ago. Despite lingering issues that forced him to miss so much time, Durant was still a fantasy stud when healthy as he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists this season but that had to make it that much more difficult for his owners to stomach it when he was shut down.
Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
Regardless of the level of talent around him, Anthony has always been an elite fantasy player and after averaging 27.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists a year ago, there was plenty of reason for optimism after Phil Jackson had taken over the team. However, Jackson failed to surround Anthony with the type of talent that would make the Knicks a contending team and after struggling early on and Anthony dealing with a nagging knee injury, the team decided to pull the plug on the season and allow their biggest superstar to have surgery and turn his focus to next season.
Chris Bosh, Miami Heat
One of the most underrated players in the NBA both in terms of fantasy value and actual value to the Miami Heat as a contender, it was absolutely devastating for both when it was announced Bosh would miss the second half of the season due to a serious medical condition. It’s no surprise that Miami missed the postseason with Bosh sidelined and considering he averaged 21.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the Heat when he was in the lineup this year, his shortened season must have been devastating for any fantasy GM that had him on their roster this season.
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Bryant had shown obvious signs of wearing down towards the end of his career but considering his reputation and the fact that he had nearly a full year off, there were some that still took him high hoping he can put up some decent numbers this season. It seemed for a while as though Kobe would reward those fantasy GM’s that took a chance on him as he averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists but as the Lakers season continued to fall apart, it became clear that the best option for the team was to end Bryant’s season prematurely and turn the focus to next year. When it was all said and done Kobe played just 35 games this season and his absence had to really hurt the fantasy GM’s that took a shot on him hoping he could put up some decent numbers throughout the course of an entire season.
Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
Derrick Rose could have been the final name on this list if there was more reason to think he could stay healthy for a full season but since that hasn’t been the case since his MVP season, we will plug in Parker as the final name on our list of the most crippling fantasy injuries. Parker’s status as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate and one of the Bucks best scoring options made him a sneaky sleeper pick. He averaged 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 25 games this season. Parker’s season-ending injury hurt even more in fantasy leagues that have spots designated for rookies only and while fantasy GM’s in keeper leagues can turn their attention to his bright future, it still had to sting to lose him this season.
