The Brooklyn Nets have shut down Day’Ron Sharpe, their 24-year-old back-up center, after he was diagnosed with a tear of his left thumb ligament, the team announced shortly before Thursday’s game with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Nets did not
initially state how Sharpe had injured his thumb or when. Sharpe has become one of the NBA’s top back-ups and recently became the top offensive rebounder by percentage in NBA history (200 games or more.)
He’s the second Nets player in the last two days to get shut down. It was announced Wednesday that Egor Demin, troubled since last Summer with plantar fasciitis in his left heel, will also sit the rest of the season, which now has 16 games left.
The decision also leaves the Nets short at the 5 with only one natural center. Three days ago, the Nets did not renew 7-footer Grant Nelson’s 10-day contract.
The decisions to shut down two rotation players could certain affect the Nets fortunes going forward. At the moment, they ate a half-game out of third place in the lottery standings and two games out of first.
