Amid a flurry of NBA free agency rumors and transactions, there was devastating news from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Friday.
Brazilian National Team forward Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, generally known simply as Neymar, was injured during the host nation’s quarterfinal match against Colombia.
Colombian full back Juan Camilo Zuniga collided with Neymar in the 88th minute, driving his knee into the Brazillian star’s back while jumping to head the ball away. The collision was beyond painful—for the host team, their star athlete and the nation cheering for them.
News confirmed the worst case scenario.
BREAKING: Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirms Neymar suffered a broken vertebra and is out of the World Cup #BRA pic.twitter.com/CCczYCW5Z8
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 4, 2014
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who knows and speaks more languages than most, shared his thoughts in Neymar’s native tongue, Portuguese.
A porrada no @neymarjr é um exemplo péssimo e sem classe de como competir #copadomundo #neymarjr #pensamentoseorações — Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) July 5, 2014
For the Portuguese-impaired, which includes myself, Google has a great translation tool. Here is the rough interpretation:
The beating on @neymarjr is a terrible and classless example of how to compete #worldcup #neymarjr #thoughtsandprayers“
Kobe wasn’t the only NBA athlete to give his regards. Both Boston Celtics bigman Kelly Olynyk, Miami Heat star free agent LeBron James and Toronto Raptors forward Patrick Patterson all shared their sympathies for Brazil’s star player.
So sad to hear that @neymarjr went down today, been rockin with Mar since the Santos days. Hoping for a quick recovery and bounce back!
— Kelly Olynyk (@KellyOlynyk) July 5, 2014
Hate to hear the news on Neymar! What a player. Have a speedy recovery/Get well asap man! #HesABeast #MyKidsFavPlayer
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 5, 2014
Feel bad for #Neymar and Brazil… #WorldCup — Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) July 4, 2014
No one wants to see an athlete go down like like that. Unfortunately, there are always opposing teams and players that have it in for stars who pose the greatest threat to their hopes for victory. Patterson acknowledged as much in an earlier tweet.
Every game there’s a certain “player” or even “payers” that have it out for Neymar.. #crazy #worldcup — Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) July 4, 2014
We all hope and pray that he will have an expedient recovery.
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Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin