Milwaukee Bucks: Worst injuries in franchise history
By Ben Sewell
4. Andrew Bogut – (2009-10)
Injury – Right Elbow Dislocation
Every Bucks fan unfortunately remembers Andrew Bogut for one disastrous event that occurred in the 2009-10 season. In the midst of a career year, where Bogut earned All-NBA Third Team honours, he was unfortunately struck down with one of the most gruesome injuries in NBA history.
As Bogut rose for what seemed to be an ordinary fast break dunk, he hung on to the rim too long, and thanks to a touch by Suns star Amar’e Stoudemire and lost his balance. As a result, he fell at an awkward angle, placing his right arm out to try and break the fall.
What happened next sent ripples through the whole NBA, as Milwaukee’s star player landed on top of his out stretched right arm with his whole body weight. Fans at the arena still describe vividly the moment, as you saw Bogut’s arm snap, then heard him scream in pain and agony!
As Bogut was helped off the court, a whole franchise held their breath in angst, waiting for the result they already knew was assured. Bogut was diagnosed with a broken hand, a sprained wrist, but most importantly a dislocated elbow. Bogut was ultimately labelled as “injury prone” league wide, something which Bogut has always dismissed as just plain bad luck.
Bogut, in an interview in 2013 stated that:
"“I’ve had a hard run with injury, everyone knows that. But these last two injuries, if you take them away from my career—take away two split-second moments out of my career, and the ‘injury-prone’ label’s gone. One of them is getting a little shove in the back and coming off the rim, 10 feet high, and breaking my elbow.”"
As a result of this injury, most analysts agree that Bogut never returned to the peak form he saw in that 2009-10 season. Purely from a statistical point of view, he never came close to averaging the 15.9 points per game he achieved in that year, but it was his tenacity and the ability to finish around the rim that Bogut truly lost after this injury. That sense of doubt creeped into his game and who could blame him after such a horrific injury?
This injury was most significant to the Bucks’ playoff run that season. Milwaukee lost Bogut for the rest of the season and as a result, were beaten in a highly competitive first round series against the Atlanta Hawks, losing 4-3. Had the Bucks had their star center for that series, many agree that the Bucks may have been able to upset the third seeded Hawks and progress to the second round of the playoffs. That’s something they still have not been able to achieve since 2001.
Bogut did eventually find a way to continue his career, and very successfully with the Golden State Warriors, but he was never quite the same.