As suspected for some time, second-year forward Tari Eason will not play again for the Houston Rockets in the 2023-24 NBA season.
Eason, 22, averaged 9.8 points (46.6% FG, 36% on 3-pointers), 7 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 21.8 minutes per game this season.
Per Vanessa Richardson, courtside reporter for TV partner Space City Home Network, Eason will have surgery Monday in an attempt to resolve the issue before the 2024-25 season. Richardson cited comments by head coach Ime Udoka after Saturday’s win in Phoenix.
“There was a benign growth on his lower leg bone that Coach [Udoka] says was pre-existing, but flared up due to getting hit,” Richardson tweeted. “Out for four months.”
After being drafted at No. 17 in the 2022 first round, Eason was one of a select few NBA players who played in all 82 regular-season games last year. He earned All-Rookie second team honors.
When healthy, Eason has been one of the most valuable players for the 2023-24 Rockets, and he delivers clear value on both offense and defense. But he hasn’t been healthy nearly enough this season, owing to a stress reaction in his left leg suffered in the preseason.
After Saturday, Houston is 12-10 when Eason plays, and 14-24 when he does not. Eason returned from the initial lower leg injury listing on Nov. 8 and played in most games from that point until Jan. 1, but he didn’t played in any games from that point forward.
Tari Eason will have surgery on Monday, per Coach Ime Udoka.
There was a benign growth on his lower leg bone that Coach says was pre-existing, but flared up due to getting hit.
Out for four months.
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) March 3, 2024
