An injury that Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke suffered on Friday night will cost him the remainder of the 2022-23 NBA season. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Clarke suffered a torn achilles during Memphis’ loss to the Denver Nuggets when he went down in pain after shooting a free throw in the first quarter.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke has suffered a season-ending left Achilles tear, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Clarke averages 10 points on 65 percent shooting. pic.twitter.com/EnPEPMu51a
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 4, 2023
It did not look like Clarke did anything especially troubling when he hit the deck with just over nine seconds left in the frame. Clarke shot and missed a free throw before taking one step backwards and struggling with his left leg. While he tried to run on it, Clarke had to sit down and watched as play resumed, and eventually, his teammates had to help him into the locker room.
I don't like this Brandon Clarke injury at all pic.twitter.com/xYrwDPQGXS
— eric (@EricTweetsNBA) March 4, 2023
Brandon Clarke suffered a left leg injury and had to be helped to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/GerWlifo8H
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) March 4, 2023
While Clarke has only started eight of the 56 games in which he’s appeared for the Grizzlies this season, the former Gonzaga standout has been an invaluable piece of the puzzle for Memphis this season. Clarke is averaging 19.5 minutes per game with 10 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, and 0.6 steals a night while connecting on a career-best 65.6 percent of his attempts from the field. He was an important part of the team’s postseason rotation last year, and now, the Grizzlies will be tasked with figuring out how to replace his energy and ability to make things happen near the rim as they look to compete for a title this time around.