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New Orleans Pelicans: Tyreke Evans Suffers Hamstring Injury

By Owen Sanborn

Dec 27, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans point guard Tyreke Evans (1) is defended by Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson (3) as he drives toward the basket in the second quarter at New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans point guard Tyreke Evans (1) is defended by Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson (3) as he drives toward the basket in the second quarter at New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sorry Pelicans fans, but it appears that we have yet to shed ourselves of the dreaded injury bug. It has been reported that Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans has suffered a fluky hamstring injury while playing a friendly offseason pick-up game. The duration of the injury should be around three to five weeks and the expectation is that he should be back in time for the season opener; although in a limited role.

This is a crushing blow for New Orleans who were just feeling the good vibes of having a healthy roster for the first time in a long time. Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday were making their way back to 100 percent and Evans was fresh off of precautionary microscopic surgery on his knee back in May.

The purpose of the surgery was to make sure Evans would be healthy for the entire 82-game slate. If this hamstring injury is any indication, we may been in for a long year once again.

It is no surprise that Evans came up limp with this sort of injury during an offseason pick-up game given his YouTube reputation. The man is an offseason all-star, comparable to the likes of Brandon Jennings and Jamal Crawford. Take a look for yourself:

I know that is nearly impossible for NBA players to showcase their street ball talents over the course of a regular game, but man do I wish we got to see these types of moves more often. Sure, it would disrupt the entire flow of the offense and most likely end in a contested jump shot, but at least the crowd would be having a good time!

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In all seriousness, this is a tough break for Evans who was hoping to bounce back from his somewhat disappointing first season with the Pelicans where he averaged only 14.5 points per game on 44 percent shooting. He contributed a healthy five assists per game, but that was inflated in part because he was relegated to being a pseudo starting point guard towards the end of the season.

In terms of the future health of the Pelicans this does not appear to be too promising either, and fans will surely be crossing their fingers and doing every good luck happy dance in the book to ensure that their team stays on the good side of the injury bug this season.

Tyreke’s absence from training camp will hinder the chances of the Pelicans coming out of the gates with supreme continuity as a team (which is something they struggled with immensely last season) and may not allow them to get off to the strong start needed to keep pace in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, hamstring injuries linger, and with Evans’ injury history any chance of further aggravation cannot be taken lightly.

In the words of the great wide receiver Steve Smith Sr: Tyreke, ice up son.

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