Magic rookie Anthony Black played through ankle injury in summer league
Anthony Black had a productive run with the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League but the sixth pick may have played through an injury on the court.
The injury was likely suffered last season at Arkansas.
Black sprained his right ankle on March 10 in a loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. He never missed any time, though, and appeared in each game during their run to the Sweet 16, averaging 12 points, 4.7 rebounds, three steals and 1.3 assists in 36 minutes per game.
The 19-year-old revealed in his docuseries on YouTube that he was hobbled a bit entering summer league and wouldn’t be 100% prior to his first game with the Magic.
“(The Magic) already know I got a bum ankle so they’re not going to really trip if I don’t have as much burst,” Black said. “I’m just going to go out there, get a couple of buckets, make a couple of shots, get some assists and rebounds.”
Anthony Black says that he had a bum ankle right before the start of his first summer league game, so he was already bracing for not as much burst to the rim.
He could have fooled me, he seemed to have gotten downhill at ease and if the bum ankle held him back I can’t wait to… pic.twitter.com/vChEdoiwKR
— Not Another Magic Pod (@Notanothermagic) July 31, 2023
Black averaged 11 points, 8.7 rebounds, four assists and two steals on 40.6% shooting from the field in three summer league games with the Magic. He did not play in their last two games as the team opted to shut him and rookie teammate Jett Howard down early.
He produced 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in his debut with the Magic on July 8. He followed that up with an eight-point, seven-rebound effort on July 10 and wrapped up his stay with eight points, 14 rebounds and four assists two nights later.
Despite being bothered by the injury, Black managed to tough it out and play through it. He will now have the opportunity to completely recover from the injury ahead of the start of training camp on Oct. 3.
