Kings’ Harry Giles offers prayer, perspective after Magic’s Jonathan Isaac tears ACL
Kings center Harry Giles III said his thoughts and prayers were with Jonathan Isaac after the Orlando Magic forward went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter of their game Sunday.
Giles, whose career was nearly derailed by knee injuries, had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds in a 132-116 loss to the Magic at HP Field House inside the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. Giles expressed his concern for Isaac in his postgame remarks.
“Prayers to him,” Giles said. “He’s a strong guy, strong in his faith, so I know he’ll be all right, but it’s so unfortunate, especially somebody so young, not being where you want to be, getting to your dreams and then getting hurt and coming up short. I know all about it, so my prayers are with him.”
Isaac, the No. 6 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Florida State, underwent an MRI that revealed a torn ACL in his left knee, according to ESPN.
Isaac hurt his knee while driving into the paint with 9:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. He had the knee heavily braced due to a previous injury, but the leg buckled and Isaac crumbled to the floor in obvious pain.
Isaac was expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a posterior lateral corner injury and a medial bone contusion in a Jan. 1 game against the Washington Wizards. The long layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic allowed him to return for the NBA restart.
Isaac made his first appearance in Orlando’s final scrimmage and scored 16 points in Friday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. He had four points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 15 minutes against the Kings.
Players from both teams gathered around Isaac as trainers tended to him on the floor. Giles and several other players offered support as Isaac was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Giles, who suffered major injuries to both knees in high school and sat out his first NBA season with the Kings, was asked what he said to Isaac.
“Not really much to what I said, just more of giving him some confidence since I’ve been there,” Giles said. “Just kind of telling him to stay up, stay positive. I just hate to see it, man. I have to get my thoughts together because it’s tough. I don’t really like speaking on that too much.
“It’s just unfortunate, man, because he’s been working hard and you see him with the brace on out there, so you hate to see him get hurt again when, in your mind, you have your form of protection on. I know how it is. You kind of rely on that brace a little bit, but it’s just a tough deal. It kind of hurts my spirits to talk about it sometimes because I know where he’s coming from. I know how hard he’s worked. He’s been looking good since he’s been here. We were just talking at the free-throw line probably seven minutes before that about, ‘How you feeling, big fella? You doing good?’ And he told me, ‘Yeah, I’m getting there.’”
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 7:30 PM.
