Timberwolves injury update for Kyle Anderson’s injury
By Bret Stuter
The wear and tear on NBA players over an 82-game season certainly does take its toll. And for those teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, where one of the starters is injured for two-thirds of the season, the rest of the Timberwolves roster found itself absorbing far too many minutes. That became a problem at times.
After all, there is a huge difference in total playing time in a season if you are competing for 28 minutes per game over 82 games, versus 35 minutes per game over 79 games. The first allocation takes up 38.25 grueling hours on the basketball court. The latter allocation takes up over 46 hours of competitive basketball.
When you are counted on to suit up, most professional basketball players do exactly that. And that is what Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson did repeatedly over the course of the 2022-23 NBA season. Well, until the Timberwolves competed in Game 4 in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. The sad part of the matter is that it was Anderson’s teammate, shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who struck Anderson in the eye as the pair were trying to get a rebound. It was that injury that benched Anderson for Game 5.
Kyle Anderson has been ruled out for Game 5 due to an eye injury, the team says.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) April 24, 2023
That was a game that the Timberwolves would lose by just three points. And had Anderson, or Naz Reid, or Jaden McDaniels been healthy enough to suit up, the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly competed well enough to raise questions over the outcome if they were as healthy as the Denver Nuggets in that series.
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Kyle Anderson Injury Update
So what has happened to Kyle Anderson since that injury? Thankfully, we do have an update for you:
Just had a nice chat with #Timberwolves and #Lynx owner Glen Taylor. He told me that Wolves forward Kyle Anderson underwent eye surgery today and all went well. But man, underplayed storyline once the season ended. His eye was pretty messed up.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 17, 2023
Eye surgery is nothing to sneeze about. Thankfully for Anderson and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the surgery went well and that should be the start on the road to recovery.
As we take a look back over a disappointing season, keep in mind that the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Denver Nuggets without starting SF Jaden McDaniels, backup center Naz Reid, and even temporary starter SF Kyle Anderson for Game 5. Did the Timberwolves lose the series? Yes, they did. But this team had to face the best team in the NBA Western Conference severely shorthanded.
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That all boils down to the 2023-24 NBA season. If the Timberwolves can stay healthy, this team could have an entirely different outcome.