Former Golden State Warriors’ forward Anthony Lamb has appeared to have suffered a significant leg injury playing for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL.
According to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc, there’s fears that Lamb has suffered a torn achilles — the same suffered by Kevin Durant in the 2019 Finals and Klay Thompson during his recovery from a torn ACL.
Scans are yet to confirm the injury, yet Breakers’ coach Mody Maor confirmed that “it doesn’t look so good” in the immediate post-game. Lamb was a surprisingly big part of the Warriors’ 2022-23 season, having began the season as a two-way contracted player.
The three-point shooting forward averaged 19.3 minutes in 62 games for Golden State during the regular season, averaging 6.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 47.1% from the floor and 36.7% from beyond the arc.
Lamb was converted to a guaranteed contract late in the season, allowing him to be eligible for the Warriors’ 2023 playoff run. He only played garbage minutes though as the team was eliminated in the second-round by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lamb’s playing time for the Warriors was a constant storyline last season, and even remains a frustrating element for fans who believe Jonathan Kuminga’s emergence would have happened sooner if not for Steve Kerr’s choice to often play Lamb ahead of him for large stretches.
Having failed to earn another contract with Golden State or elsewhere, Lamb took his talents to the Breakers in the hopes of earning another NBA deal. The 26-year-old had proven one of the NBL’s star imports, averaging 19.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 50% shooting from the floor.
After originally going undrafted in 2020, Lamb played 24 games for the Houston Rockets and two games for the San Antonio Spurs before joining the Warriors for training camp last season.