Christian Koloko: Career-Threatening Blood Clot Halts NBA Future
Christian Koloko was an underrated name who was featured in the Pascal Siakam trade. As part of the deal, Toronto waived Koloko after receiving Bruce Brown and Jordan Nwora. Now we know why the Raptors released the former big man out of Arizona.
Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted that Koloko has a blood clot issue that is thought to be a potential career-ender. Not exactly the best news you want to hear as second-year player trying to get your career started.
The league will obviously step in to some degree. The NBA’s Fitness-to-Play panel deals with these types of issues. Koloko likely won’t get claimed on waivers with this news. Masai Ujiri, however, did have some comments about Koloko’s health.
“We’ve exhausted all our options there,” Ujiri said (Twitter link via Murphy) “I can’t comment on particulars. It’s really unfortunate. … He was someone we really believed in. Incredible talent. We saw as the future of this team.“
The Raptors selected Koloko with the 33rd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He did not play a game this season but did show some promise last year. As a rookie, Koloko averaged 3.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and one block per game across 13.8 minutes in 58 contests. More than anything, let’s hope this condition isn’t life-threatening and Koloko is back on the court sometime in the future.
Before I close, check out the trade grades I did on the Siakam trade! Feel free to share your comments as always.
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