Thursday night was a rough night for the Portland Trail Blazers. The team may have won the battle, having soundly beaten the Dallas Mavericks 94-75, but they suffered a crushing blow towards winning the war.
Starting shooting guard Wesley Matthews went down after playing only 18 minutes in the game.
The NBA on TNT announcers, Marv Albert and Brent Barry, both seemed to have suspected something as simple as an ankle injury, as Matthews tumbled to the court while receiving an outlet pass from Damian Lillard in transition.
Unfortunately, the news couldn’t have been worse given the location of the injury.
Matthews was taken to get an MRI while his teammates went on to win without him. The diagnosis: a ruptured Achilles tendon. When asked how he felt afterwards, he was incredulous.
Disbelief, you know? I’m sitting up there in that tube getting the MRI and I don’t hear noise, I don’t feel my Achilles. I just can’t believe I’m there while my team is battling. I hadn’t processed it yet. When I came out they said ‘It’s torn,’ but still.”
From then until now, there has been an outpouring of support, prayer and well-wishes for his health and recovery.
It took a while for him to really come to terms with his situation, but when he did, he offered a very sobering and emotional window into how he is feeling and expressed gratitude for the support he has received.
I would be lying if I did not admit to having tears fall down my face this morning because I was hoping to just be waking up from a bad dream. I’m sorry this response took this long but none of it felt real, and to be honest, it still doesn’t. My season is over and my will, my heart, my faith and my strength will now be tested, which is a challenge I welcome.
“Though my season is over, #ripcity’s season is far from over! And I will be there ‘till the end! As I read through all the messages via text and Twitter, I was in awe. I was in shock and disbelief not only because of the injury, but because I never could have imagined how many people could be genuinely hurt, sad and upset for me.
“To my coaches- thank you; to my brothers and teammates- thank you; to my fans and #ripcity- thank you; to my family and friends- thank you! Like most of my life, a challenge has been placed in front of me—a challenge that will be nothing but another chapter in my story. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, SUPPOR T & PRAYERS. See you on the court next season. #arrowlife out.” – Ironman
Our thoughts and prayers remain with Wesley as he embarks on a long 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