Orlando Magic’ forward Jonathan Isaac has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2021-22 NBA season, per Magic’ President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman.
“First and foremost, the care of our players will always be our top priority,” said Weltman, via NBA.com.
“We have to remember that Jonathan has missed essentially two years. While it continues to be a day-to-day process for him as he continues to strengthen and condition all aspects of his body, we feel we have reached a point where it would be prudent to say that he will not play this season. I understand this can be frustrating to our fans, but Jonathan has worked extremely hard and he is eager to return to game action, which is why we must continue to manage his rehabilitation with the big picture in mind. Quite frankly, we are just out of time to ramp him up to play in games this season.”
Isaac injured his knee on New Year’s Day 2020, returned to play in the Orlando bubble, then tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“It’s frustrating,” said Isaac.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work and everybody has been working extremely hard to get me to a place of getting closer and closer and we’ve kind of run out of time with where we are right now. Just looking forward to the summer.”
Just a few years ago, Isaac looked like a franchise cornerstone and perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Isaac – who’s still just 24 years-old – has averaged 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals in 25.8 minutes per game through his career.