How did you spend your last 24-ish hours? Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks spent his mid-week going under the knife, then getting hit by a car.
Some guys have all the luck. Others are Alec Burks.
To say that the Hardwood Houdini of the Utah Jazz has had a rough go of it in recent years is an understatement. Every time fans start to get revved up about his exploits on the floor, injuries have clipped his wings. Over the course of the last two seasons, the six-foot-six guard has missed more than 100 games as a result.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey famously labeled him the team’s top “free agent” acquisition last summer after he had suffered a season-ending injury in 2015. Then, in short order, he suffered what was essentially another season-ending injury early this past season.
Without a doubt, Houdini’s had a hard-luck run with the Jazz. It was epitomized this week by a crazy 24-ish hour period in which Burks had to go under the knife, then was involved in a car accident the very next day.
Yep, that happened.
According to an announcement from the Jazz, Burks underwent surgery to clear debris out of his knee and ankle on Tuesday. It was an outpatient procedure performed successfully by Jazz head orthopaedic team physician Dr. Travis Maak, as well as ankle and foot specialist Dr. Charles L. Saltzman.
Although a cynical contingent of the Utah faithful are now questioning Burks’ durability given his history and the fact that he’s had yet another surgery, the Jazz wing is expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.
What he probably wasn’t ready for was for the vehicle he was riding in to get side-swiped in a hit-and-run accident near the team’s practice facility the following morning–
.@austinhorton is telling us how a car driving Alec Burks was just sideswiped in a hit-and-run accident by the Jazz practice facility.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) June 8, 2016
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From the operating table to a car crash; talk about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
The armchair wrestling promoter in me imagines that the culprit was Gordon Hayward‘s high school teammate Julian Mavunga–who as actually at the practice facility for the team’s free agent mini-camp–sent by Hayward to take Burks out in the ultimate heel turn, setting up a title match between the two at the next pay-per-view.
All jokes and WWE storytelling aside, hit-and-runs aren’t cool. And if anybody has earned a reprieve from such shenanigans, it’s the perpetually-maligned Burks.
Given all that he’s been through, he’s probably overdue for a lucky turn–hopefully it comes in time for the 2016-17 NBA season.