When injuries occur in the NBA, they can have a huge impact on the game’s outcome and the betting odds. This NBA injury report will help you keep up with current basketball player injuries, learn more about what NBA injuries occur most often and the impact that injuries have on basketball betting.
NBA injury reports often have a large impact on the outcome of a game. If you don’t check tonight’s inactive players before betting on a game, you’re essentially going in blind. Using an NBA injury report can help you make informed decisions when it comes to betting spreads, totals, player props and more.
One of the great wild cards for teams looking to win the NBA Finals is the occurrence of injuries. With the size of the NBA’s roster of active players, the length of the regular season, the density of the schedule and the increasing pace of play, the risk of injury is high.
An injury could cost a player the entire season, like Tyrese Haliburton or Damian Lillard in 2025-26. It could cause a few missed games or a multi-week absence. It could also be a nagging thing that limits a player’s performance until he’s fully recovered.
Below, we’ll take a look at the type of injuries that can affect a team, how those injuries affect NBA bettors, and how long it can take a player to heal so you can estimate the timeline for return and bet accordingly in the meantime.
Obviously, a star player can only do so much to help his team if he’s on the bench. And in the NBA, injuries can sometimes fall into a gray area.
The NBA is notorious for having players pop up on or off the injury report mere moments before a game begins, making it difficult to anticipate last-second changes to betting markets. Some players fall into this trend more often than others – just think about load management – but almost no one is exempt.
We can’t always predict when injuries like these will happen, but there are some ways we can plan around it. Injury-prone players don’t always play in back-to-backs, for example. And just because they aren’t on the injury report the morning of the game doesn’t mean they won’t be later on.
If you’re betting on the NBA, you’ll want to keep up with the latest injury news by following beat writers for individual teams on social media to see who is dressing for practice and shootaround. These reporters will have the most up-to-date information and may even be able to predict certain absences.
As bettors, it’s our job to take advantage of opportunities like these. If someone like Victor Wembanyama is ruled out, betting markets will rapidly adjust for everything from spreads to player props. Knowing who generally sees an uptick in performance when key players sit out is an excellent strategy for prop betting.
Ultimately, our best advice is to keep up with trends and statistics regarding how a team performs with and without their star players. Use this information to your advantage as soon as the news drops to get an edge on oddsmakers.
NBA players may dribble and shoot with their hands, but the vast majority of the game comes down to running and jumping. So it’s no surprise that lower-body injuries – to the legs and feet – are among the most common ailments reported in the NBA.
Knee injuries can range from mildly nagging to season-ending and career-threatening, but they affect virtually every player in the league to some degree. Despite all of the efforts that seek to mitigate the development of these injuries, knee issues are especially common.
According to a 2021 study, knee soreness and swelling from wear and tear are responsible for more missed games than any other single injury. Knee inflammation is responsible for 11.9 percent of all injuries and has a huge impact on player participation.
Often called patellar tendonitis or jumper’s knee, it is normally cured with rest, anti-inflammatory drugs, and physical therapy. It can result in a game or two missed or an extended stay on the sideline. Most players get back to their preinjury performance after a short period of time.
A knee fracture can keep a player out for several months and could be season-ending. Torn ACLs and other knee ligaments are more common in other sports, but the injury still strikes a handful of players each season.
Joel Embiid’s persistent knee injuries have forced him to miss substantial time since he first entered the NBA in 2014. To date, he’s never played more than 68 games in a single season.
Landing after jumping to shoot or rebound can cause ankle injuries, which are among the most commonly occurring problems in the NBA. With the amount of time spent jumping and running, wear and tear on a player’s feet can also lead to foot injury.
Low-grade ankle sprains can cause a game or two on the bench, while a high-ankle sprain with higher-grade ratings can cause a player to miss weeks. Ankle soreness is another general ailment that can leave players with a day-to-day designation for weeks at a time.
Sometimes, a player will deal with ankle issues throughout their entire career. Stephen Curry had ankle problems throughout his first few seasons and eventually got it corrected, but he still suffers the occasional ankle injury.
Lisfranc fractures aren’t common, but they are serious. It refers to displacement or fractures to the bones in the middle of the foot. Chet Holmgren missed his entire rookie season with a Lisfranc fracture.
Hands and arms don’t take the same beating as legs in the NBA, but they can still suffer plenty of trauma. Fingers can get dislocated or hyperextended from trying to grab rebounds and wrists can be sprained bracing from a fall.
Less common but more severe is a torn ligament in the thumb or other fingers. The time missed for this injury is usually over two months and almost always requires surgery.
Wrist fractures are a common injury. They can require surgery, or players can sometimes try to play through them. LaMelo Ball and Jayson Tatum have both battled wrist fractures over the last few years.
Falls are also a cause for elbow fractures, which is the most common elbow injury in the league, but relatively rare compared to other injuries.
There are a number of other types of injuries you may come across while following the National Basketball Association.
Hamstring injuries are generally nagging and force a player out for an average of a week and a half. Hip injuries can range from a contusion to a torn hip labrum, which can be season-ending and career-altering. Isaiah Thomas went from an All-Star to struggling to reach that level again after returning from a labrum injury.
Groin or adductor injuries can keep a player out for extended periods of time. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have both battled groin problems, among others.
Stress fractures refer to breaks in bones that come from wear and tear gradually, over time, rather than in a single incident. In the 2025-26 NBA season, we’ve already seen Obi Toppin endure a lengthy absence because of a stress reaction.
The biggest and smallest players in the league are most likely to suffer injuries. Point guards, who are much smaller than the giants they go up against, are most likely to be knocked to the ground on drives to the basket and can suffer injuries related to contact and collision.
Big men are carrying the most weight and also spend most of their time near the basket, where collisions are commonplace and they need to jump and land on every rebounding attempt, also putting their hands and fingers at risk.
Highly athletic players can also be more susceptible to injuries due to their frequent fast motions and aggressive style of play. High-flying guards like Ja Morant also need to be careful about the way they land on their feet after finishing a dunk.
NBA teams must report information concerning player injuries, illnesses and rest for all games.
The NBA requires teams to announce a player’s status the day before a game, along with a specific designation like out, doubtful, questionable, or probable. These statuses can change throughout the day as a game gets closer, however, so it’s important to check more than once.
Bettors looking to simplify this process can head to OddsTrader to check out the latest injury report for every NBA game.
Injuries have become a hot topic of discussion in NBA circles. Here are a few frequently asked questions that continue popping up.
Yes, the NBA has an injured list, which can be found by viewing a team’s official injury report. This allows teams to temporarily remove injured players from the active roster.
Yes, the NBA has seen an increase in game-related injuries over a 10-year period, possibly due to the rise in physical contact, tight scheduling, and increased pace of play. Ankle injuries are the most common, but knee injuries result in more missed games.
Yes, professional basketball players are prone to injuries, with ankle and knee injuries being the most common. Studies have shown that taller and heavier players are more likely to sustain injuries due to the jumping and pivoting movements involved in various basketball activities.
Shooting guards have been shown to endure the most injuries in the NBA, but centers and point guards often appear on the injury report as well. In short, there’s no position that can be considered “safe” from injuries.
Some have speculated that factors like increased pace of play, as well as tight scheduling with back-to-backs and quick turnarounds between games, have contributed to an increase in Achilles injuries. Players are not built to be able to handle such a significant load over the course of an 82-game season, let alone into the playoffs.
In the 2024-25 playoffs, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Tyrese Haliburton all suffered Achilles injuries that would hold them out for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
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