Plans derailed: Pacers will be without Myles Turner for at least a few games
Turner talked about what happened and what it was like to be sidelined suddenly for the season opener after a minor ankle sprain. "It’s a freak accident."
Myles Turner was at Pacers practice on Thursday, but he was not dressed in practice attire. He had on Ugg slippers, a salmon-colored hoodie, team sweats and glasses. Notably, he was not in a boot.
He was supposed to be on the court, both last night in the game and Thursday for team practice.
He was supposed to be talking about opening night and what it was like to be playing in his first game in nine months, sharing the court with Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin, and playing in front of the home crowd once again.
But he couldn’t because it didn’t happen.
“I was just going through my warmups and I just stepped on someone’s foot.” Turner said after practice, confirming what I wrote last night. “I didn’t see who it was. When it happened, I kind of ran off to the tunnel to try to walk it off and try to resume my workout. It just wasn’t feeling right.”
Several outlets have reported that it was a ball boy, but I got new information on Thursday that it was a basketball assistant. Who it was doesn’t matter; it was just unlucky.
But it happens. I remembered how something similar played out in 2018 with Domantas Sabonis, which I also reported on. The local TV broadcast even captured the moment.
There’s no video this time. But like Sabonis, Turner hit a courtside seat in frustration and tried to walk it off.
“It’s unfortunate, man,” Turner said. “Definitely not the way I wanted to start the season off. I worked my ass off to get to this point, to come out here and play. Especially in front of the home fans. It’s a freak accident.
“Obviously, it’s an emotional time for me. I had all my family here. It was the first game of the season and I was ready to go. To be held back again is tough, but you take it for what it is. There’s nothing I can do about it now but get better and keep rolling.”