Kirilenko Breaks Wrist, Lost For Season

25.03.2005

The Utah Jazz's Russian superstar Andrei Kirilenko suffered a broken left wrist in Thursday's game against the Washington Wizards and has been lost for the season.

It's frustrating !
Andrei Kirilenko
"It's frustrating," said Kirilenko, who missed 26 games earlier this season with a sprained right MCL. "This is my 40th game, so I've missed more than half the season. This is my second big injury of the season and I'd never had one before in my professional career, so it's tough."

"I jumped and lost my balance and fell down on both my wrists. I felt like something was wrong. I didn't feel like it was broken, but I felt like it was a bad sprain."

The power forward, one of the top defensive players in the game, is expected to be out of action for six weeks but should recover in time for the European Championships.

"He's now in a splint," Jazz team doctor Lyle Mason said. "It's a clean break, no surgery, and it should go back to absolutely perfectly normal.

Kirilenko, who averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in Eurobasket qualifying, and also blocked 4.5 shots per game,  is not even thinking about the European Championships yet.

"All I can do is try to recover as much as possible, and heal it good," said Kirilenko.

"So take a good summer break, probably a lot of weightlifting for ligaments, get my knee good. I'll be ready for next season."