Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards will be sidelined indefinitely due to a fractured rib.
Richards went down early after injuring his right shoulder in the Hornets’ 124-109 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday night. An MRI on Tuesday then revealed a fracture in his first rib underneath his right clavicle, the team announced.
Richards will be evaluated “every other week,” starting in two weeks. It’s unclear how long he will be out.
Richards has averaged a career-high 11 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, his fifth with the Hornets. He’s in the second year of a three-year, $15 million deal with the franchise this fall. Richards has been starting this season in place of usual center Mark Williams, who has yet to take the court while recovering from a foot injury.
“Nick has been a big part of what we’ve done these first five games. I’ve been very happy with him and his ability to kind of dominate the paint,” coach Charles Lee said Saturday, via the Charlotte Observer. “He’s altered a lot of shots and I think he’s helping us with his pick-and-roll coverage and understanding the different gaps to be in in center field and create some indecision for ball-handlers.
“He’s done a great job defensively, and then offensively, he’s created a ton of advantages for all of our scorers, all of our ball-handlers. He’s one of our main guys that’s been one of those relentless offensive rebounders. It’s helped benefit him and also led to kickout threes for us, too. It’s an unfortunate loss.”
The Hornets hold a 2-5 record this season and have lost three straight, including back-to-back losses to the Celtics. The Hornets went just 21-61 last season and missed the playoffs for an eighth-straight year. Lee was hired to replace Steve Clifford as the team’s head coach this past offseason.
The Hornets will host the Detroit Pistons next on Wednesday night.
