Kenny Atkinson After Caris LeVert Injury: ‘No One Has to be a Hero Here’

Getty Caris LeVert suffered a brutal-looking leg injury in a game against the Timberwolves.

The Nets are without Caris LeVert for now, though they likely will see him again before the end of the season.

They went without the third-year player on Wednesday after he suffered a brutal-looking (but mostly-benign) injury against the Timberwolves earlier this week. The injury looked like a snapped leg, but turned out to be simply a dislocated foot with minimal damage to the tendons. LeVert is expected to play again before season’s end.

That being said, the 24-year-old small forward was having something of a breakout season for the Nets and was a huge component of their early-season success. He was averaging 11.1 points per game and had already notched 10 before halftime in the Timberwolves game, but now the team will have to look elsewhere for the energy and output he had been delivering.

Atkinson knows it’ll be an adjustment, but he thinks the team is up for it.

“Guys get opportunities,” he said of the gap left by LeVert, “bigger opportunities than they’ve had previously. But ideally no one has to be a hero here. We just all have to come together as a team and if all of us do a little bit more to cover for Caris’ absence, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The team can at least look forward to LeVert’s return before the end of the season–something they probably couldn’t have fathomed as a possibility after initially witnessing the injury. They lost to the Heat by 13 on Wednesday but have a chance to make a good showing against the Wizards tonight.

The two teams will face off tonight at 7:00 pm EST.

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