Ekezie tears ACL :(

[Admin]

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Forward-center Obinna Ekezie, emerging as one of the Atlanta Hawks' top reserves, tore his right ACL on Thursday in a preseason contest against Miami and is sidelined indefinitely.

Ekezie, a free agent training camp invitee, suffered the injury with less than seven minutes left in a 92-78 exhibition loss when he went up for a rebound and landed awkwardly on the floor. An MRI on Friday revealed the extent of the damage.

The 6-9 Ekezie was Atlanta's third-leading scorer through four preseason games with 11.8 points per contest. He was second in rebounding at 7.3 per game and the team's leading field goal shooter at 48.8 percent.

"First of all, we feel very bad for Obinna," Hawks general manager Billy Knight said. "He has made great strides in his short period of time with us and had made quite an impression in his overall play during the preseason.

"He was playing really well and without question was the surprise of the preseason for us. It's an unfortunate situation because he was good enough to be on the team."

Ekezie appeared finally to be the right fit since entering the league in 1999, when the Vancouver Grizzlies drafted him out of Maryland in the second round. He played for four teams his first three seasons, also suiting up for Washington, Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 270-pounder took part in the Orlando Magic's training camp last season before tendinitis in his knee led to him being cut. He spent last season playing in Yugoslavia.

[dickaufan12]

You beat me to it...

This is just too bad for the Hawks. He was going to really contribute this year.