FILE — CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots a free throw against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on January 13, 2021 in Sacramento, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
Portland guard CJ McCollum, averaging a career-best 26.7 points for the Trail Blazers this NBA season, has a broken left foot and will be sidelined at least four weeks, the team said.
“It’s just some bad timing, terrible timing,” McCollum said Tuesday, a day after the team confirmed that tests had revealed the hairline fracture.
It had initially been thought he suffered only a left foot sprain in Portland’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday and would miss about a week.
Instead, he will wear a walking boot and be re-evaluated in four weeks.
“There’s nothing I can really do about it,” McCollum said. “I work hard and take care of myself, I put a lot of time in, I put a lot of effort into my body and this is one of those situations where there’s not much I could have done.”
The Blazers said the injury occurred in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, when Hawks center Clint Capela stepped on McCollum’s foot as he tried to contest an attempt at the rim.
McCollum left the game briefly but returned, scoring 16 points in 19 minutes before departing for good at halftime.
McCollum’s injury is another blow for the Blazers. Center Jusuf Nurkic broke his wrist in a game last week and will require surgery.
The team said he would be re-evaluated in six weeks.