Portland basketball media says it badly missed the severity of Deni Avdija’s car accident, after the Israeli star discussed the injury in a recent interview. The piece follows Avdija’s career-best season with the Portland Trail Blazers, which ended weeks ago, and comes as he prepares for his seventh NBA season after becoming Portland’s breakout star, a first-time All-Star, and the first Israeli to reach the NBA playoffs.
Mike Richman of Locked On Blazers openly criticized both the local press and himself. “The Portland media, including me, covered it poorly. We did a bad job, no local site knew about it. At first it was reported only as a minor car accident. It should have been a bigger issue,” he said. Richman added that Avdija was injured, returned to play, and was hurt again later in a game, and that this was the first time the public got a clear picture of what really happened.
He said Avdija is not the type to volunteer that he was hurt in a crash, and that the Blazers’ communication also raised questions. “This is the second straight season one of our players was involved in a car accident, and the club did not release anything publicly,” he said. Richman argued it is unclear what Avdija told the medical staff or whether he downplayed the problem before it worsened.
Richman also said anyone who has been in a crash knows the effects can linger. He noted that even after a minor accident he had lower back pain for a long time, and said he can only imagine what Avdija went through. He concluded that the incident may not fully change how Avdija’s end-of-season performance is judged, but if the injury was sudden it could affect how people view issues like workload. He added that if Avdija stays focused on basketball and avoids dangerous off-court situations, the matter should not remain with him once he is fully healthy.
