Former Jayhawk Udoka Azubuike injured in G League opener

By Matt Tait     Feb 10, 2021
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Texas Tech's TJ Holyfield (22) defends against Kansas' Udoka Azubuike (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Brad Tollefson)

Former Kansas center Udoka Azubuike, now in his rookie season with the NBA’s Utah Jazz, was taken off the court on a stretcher after injuring his right ankle in a G League game on Wednesday afternoon.

Reports and videos of the injury first surfaced on Twitter, showing Azubuike landing awkwardly on the ankle after shooting a short jump hook late in the game between Azubuike’s Salt Lake City Stars and the Eerie BayHawks.

The game was the first of Salt Lake City’s G League season, which is being played entirely in Orlando, Fla., in a bubble similar to the one the NBA used to complete its 2019-20 season.

According to the Deseret News, Azubuike, 21, played 28 minutes with 8 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in Wednesday’s game, which the BayHawks won, 117-98.

The Stars did not immediately announce the severity of Azubuike’s injury. The former Jayhawk has played in 12 games for the Jazz this season, averaging 1 point and 1.1 rebounds in 4.1 minutes per game.

The injured ankle was the same one Azubuike hurt against Wofford in December of 2018 that forced him to miss a few games during his second injury-plagued season as a Jayhawk.

Azubuike suffered a wrist/hand injury shortly thereafter, which forced him to miss the rest of the 2018-19 season. He responded by returning to school for his senior season and turning in an All-American season with the Jayhawks in 2019-20.

That led to him being drafted No. 27 overall by Utah in the 2020 NBA draft.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.