The most devastating injuries in NBA history

Injuries are a common occurrence in all sports, with many athletes putting their bodies on the line to achieve greatness.

Let's look through some of the worst injuries to happen in the pursuit of greatness in the NBA.

Garbajosa was a promising young player who earned an all-rookie first-team spot in his first season with the Toronto Raptors, earning a new three-year deal in the summer of 2006.

According to twinspires.com, in March 2007, the Spaniard attempted to block Al Jefferson's dunk and landed awkwardly, subsequently having a broken fibula, dislocated ankle, and tearing multiple ligaments. He returned to Europe after being out for the entire season.

Although he's not an NBA player, NCAA college player Kevin Ware may have suffered one of the worst injuries an athlete could endure.

After going up to block a dunk in an Elite 8 game for Louisville against Duke, Ware landed awkwardly on his right leg, resulting in a clean snap of his lower leg, causing an open fracture that extended out of his shin, per foxnews.com.

In recent years, Jonathon Isaac has been the unluckiest player when it comes to injuries in the entire NBA.

According to Fox Sports, Isaac missed two entire seasons for the Orlando Magic since tearing his ACL in the NBA bubble in 2020. Whilst rehabbing for his knee, Isaac suffered a hamstring injury that needed surgery, meaning NBA fans have only just seen his return.

In the early part of his career, Paul George was electrifying for the Indiana Pacers with power and speed toward the basket. However, a scrimmage with Team USA changed all of that...

According to twinspires.com, whilst chasing James Harden's layup, George's right leg collided with the bottom of the stanchion, resulting in both bones in his lower leg breaking.

It was a nightmare start to Gordan Hayward's Boston Celtics career back in 2017 after only managing to play six minutes of the season opener.

After failing to catch a lob from Kyrie Irving, Hayward landed with his body crumpling his leg, resulting in a snap below the knee, turning his foot at a horrific angle, according to twinspires.com.

During a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets in 1977, Rudy Tomjanovich found himself on the end of a life-threatening punch from the Lakers man Kermit Washington.

According to spacecityscoop.com, Tomjanovich suffered a fractured skull, broken jaw, broken nose, and leakage of the spinal fluid – leaving him on the sidelines for five months.

Prior to his NBA career, Allan Ray suffered a terrible eye injury playing for Villanova after a Pittsburgh player accidentally poked his eye whilst trying to steal the ball.

According to Sportscasting.com, his eye looked to have come out of his socket, resulting in Ray losing his vision for a brief time. Despite that, Ray only suffered soft tissue damage.

Shaun Livingston was an exciting NBA prospect in his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, but a game against the Charlotte Bobcats nearly changed his life.

According to twinspire.com, Livingston went up to finish a layup and missed. He landed terribly, tearing three of the four major ligaments in his knee, and dislocating his patellar tendon. Luckily, he didn't damage his femoral artery because if so, he would have had his leg amputated.

Towards the end of his career, Baron Davis was playing for a poor New York Knicks team that managed to scrape its way into the playoffs.

According to thesporster.com, in the opening round against Miami, Davis extended his arm to shoot but his knee buckled inwards, and his foot stayed planted. Davis was left rehabbing until late 2014, leaving retirement as the only option.