OverTime: So Leave the Lights On in Brooklyn.

Photo courtesy of SB Nation.

Brooklyn plays a unique type of basketball. It's akin to what I imagine goes on inside the gyms and yards of many prisons. They play dirty. They scrounge and they fight. They dress up in black, put their heads down, and charge at their opponents. It's a dark brand of basketball, a brand that's been my guilty pleasure to watch the last few years, despite them being an awful team. (For reference, they lost almost twice as many games last season as they won.) Even their stadium, Barclay Center, is dark. It's the worst lit stadium in the country. You can't see any fans, just the floor and the players on it fighting tooth and nail to get buckets.

But in the first month of the 2018-19 NBA season, a little stream of light began to seep into the Barclay Center, fracturing the darkness of Brooklyn. His name: Caris LeVert.

Caris, pictured above, is 24, a third-year player from the University of Michigan (where he, unlike most players, actually played all four years). His last two years of college were marred by a left foot injury, which required three surgeries over the course of 22 months. Obviously, that's a terrible place for a 21 year old athlete to be, sights set on the NBA while his body was failing him just a few months before the draft. But he persevered and was selected 20th overall in the 2016 draft. The Nets took a risk in picking him. And it's paid off.

LeVert is literally the perfect Net. He, much like their brand of basketball, is a fighter. A few years before his foot injury his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and a few years before that (when he was 15) he came downstairs to discover his father dead on the floor from a heart attack. It's an understatement to say that this kid is a fighter. And over the last month, Caris has shown that he's more than a fighter. He's heroic. Every game this season he's put up incredible numbers, numbers that vastly supersede anything he's put up in year's past. He's had career highs this season against some of the best teams in the league (i.e. the Houston Rockets) and has hit game winning shots against some of the toughest defenses (i.e. the Denver Nuggets). I mean, just watch the man - he's a goddamn hero.



The Net's coach, Kenny Atkinson, described him last night as "the heart and soul" of their team. He's been a blinding light in the dark fight that is Brooklyn basketball this season, and though the Nets' brand of basketball has always been my guilty pleasure, I can say with confidence I've watched more of the Brooklyn Nets this year than any other team. Caris LeVert has been a knight in shining armor, not only for the Nets, but for basketball fans. He's fighting the fight and winning!


Look at him hit this game-winning buzzer beater against the Nuggets! He's amazing! Photo courtesy of Slam.

Which is what made last night so devastating.

With just 3.7 seconds left in the first half of a tight contest between the Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Caris went up for a block and came down the wrong way on his right foot. I'll spare you the video and tell you this - he didn't get up. Brooklyn's white knight lay on the ground sobbing while physicians rushed quickly to wrap and cover the ankle jutting out in horrific fashion. I sat in stunned silence, tears pouring down my face, as I watched them wheel him off the court. There simply aren't words for that moment. Joe Harris, a three-point sharpshooter for the Nets, told reporters after the game, "We didn't even talk when we came in at halftime. There was nothing to be said. Guys were crying. It was really that horrific just to see."

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, one of Caris LeVert's best friends and teammates, crying moments after LeVert went down.

Horrific doesn't even begin to describe that moment. When a player goes down, when you watch it happen live (and I've seen a few too many of these injuries happen live), it feels final. It feels ultimate. It feels like they're never going to come back from this, and sometimes we're right to feel that way. Derrick Rose has only just begun to come back from the knee "implosions" he suffered over half a decade ago. The jury is still out on whether or not Gordon Hayward will be able to return to the stellar form he also once had, after grotesquely breaking his ankle a few minutes into the beginning of last year's season. (That was also truly horrific to watch live.) But there's something that feels particularly devastating about LeVert's injury. Rose had already won MVP when his knee gave out. Gordon was a bonafide superstar when he snapped his ankle. Caris though, well he's just begun.

And while it feels particularly devastating - the idea that the lights have once again been shut off in Brooklyn, forcing them to struggle in the dark - I don't think this injury is actually final. Or at least, I certainly hope it isn't. The Nets' doctors released their diagnosis this morning saying that LeVert dislocated his right foot, but that there were no fractures or serious ligament damage, and while the road to recovery will be a tough one, there's still a chance we see LeVert back on the floor within this season. Now, that's the most optimistic outcome, and the reality is we probably won't see Caris back at this level for at least a year or more. 

But that doesn't mean there's no light in Brooklyn. Yes, they've lost their hero. But only for a moment. If his short history has taught us anything, it's that Caris LeVert will not be stopped. He will fight, he will train, he will persevere, and when he comes back, he will burn brighter than ever before.