LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker will miss the remainder of the NBA playoff season after suffering a leg injury during his team’s win over the Houston Rockets, the Spurs said Thursday.
Parker collapsed to the court in agony during the fourth quarter of the Spurs’ series-levelling win over the Rockets on Wednesday.
The French star was carted off by teammates Dewayne Dedmon and Dejounte Murray and did not look up as the crowd chanted his name.
The Spurs said Parker, 34, had undergone an MRI exam which revealed he had suffered a ruptured left quadriceps tendon requiring surgery.
“Parker will miss the remainder of the 2017 NBA playoffs,” the team said in a statement. “A timeline for his return will be determined at a later date.”
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich had given a grim assessment of Parker’s injury following his team’s win.
“It’s not good,” Popovich said of Parker, who scored 18 points in the win.
Team-mate Manu Ginobili said on Wednesday that Parker had been unable to place any weight on his injured left leg.
“It’s hard to see him limping and hurting now, and you kind of know we’re not going to see him any time soon,” Ginobili said. “That’s a tough blow.”
On Wednesday, Parker became the ninth player in playoff history to reach 4,000 career points.
He and Cleveland superstar LeBron James are now the NBA’s only players to have scored 4,000 points and recorded 1,000 assists in the playoffs.
Parker is in his 16th season in the NBA and has helped the Spurs to four NBA titles in the past.
