No one really knows the severity of Marvin Bagley’s injury, so would the Sacramento Kings be smart to shut him down for the year?
The 2019-’20 season has been an utter disappointment for the Sacramento Kings, and especially for Marvin Bagley. The team has struggled to pick up victories after a promising month of November, and Bagley has struggled to even see the court after a promising rookie season. Frustrations have mounted both with the fanbase and within the Bagley camp, and the second overall pick in the 2018 Draft is adding more question marks to his resume than accolades.
Due to multiple trips to the disabled list, Bagley has appeared in just 13 of a possible 50 games this season. He missed 22 games with a fractured thumb, and another 8 with a mid-foot sprain. He currently finds himself injured once again, having missed the last seven games and counting.
This time, the ailment is somewhat of a mystery. What started as a “minor re-aggravation” of the previous foot sprain turned in to Bagley showing up to games in street clothes and a walking boot. When we thought he would miss a game or two, the team finally announced on January 30th that Bagley would be re-evaluated in three weeks.
Where Will The Team Be When He Is Ready?
Three weeks from January 30th will be February 20th, which is the day that the Kings are slated to play their first game after the All-Star Break. If this injury is healing as slowly as his thumb did back in November and December, then don’t expect him back until even later than that.
But even if he is to return as early as possible, there will be just 28 possible games that Bagley can participate in before season’s end. It is very likely that the Kings will be 15 or more games under .500 by February 20th, so Sacramento certainly won’t be feeling any pressure to rush him back. So that begs the question:
Should the Kings shut down Marvin Bagley for the rest of the season?
He has already shown that his body is fragile, and not yet equipped for the physicality of the NBA game. Another injury to Bagley at this point before an important, developmental offseason is certainly not something that Sacramento wants to see. With the season slipping away with every passing loss (and every Grizzlies, Blazers, Spurs, Pelicans, and Suns victory), it is not crazy to think that the Kings shut him down.
Mental Health & Happiness
And then there is his overall mental well-being. Not only have both he and the team endured hardships this season, but the player that the fanbase wishes the team would have drafted is already an MVP candidate and a leading vote-getter for this year’s All-Star Game. Luka Doncic‘s success mixed with Bagley’s inability to even get on the floor has the fanbase understandably frustrated, but they have taken to attacking Bagley personally.
Early this week, Bagley deleted all traces of his social media presence, scrubbing both Twitter and Instagram clean of the @mb3five handle. This was likely due to the presumably overwhelming number of hate messages that he received on the social platforms. Bagley’s father went as far as posting a screenshot of one of the messages on his own social media account in which a “fan” hurls racial slurs tells his son that he should kill himself. (Marvin has since reactivated his Instagram account and his DMs are still open)
Roster-wise, the Kings should be fine without him. They still have a slew of frontcourt players that will fill in for the remainder of the season, especially after the Wednesday trade that brought in Jabari Parker and Alex Len.
Final Thoughts
Maybe Bagley just needs a break from basketball to get his head straight. The start of his career has not been what he nor the team that drafted him envisioned it being like, and he needs a reset button of sorts; get away from the game, get away from the noise, and get back to making basketball as fun as it used to be.
Might as well. The Kings are 2-11 in games in which Marvin Bagley has played this season.