Miami Heat defender Dru Smith suffered a serious injury in the match against the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, the reason comes from the floor of the Ohio team.

What injury did Dru Smith have?

The situation happened at the beginning of the second half, Dru Smith, in an attempt to prevent his opponent’s three-point shot, rushed straight into the bench by inertia. The Heat defender then landed on a piece of paper on the floor, causing him to slip and fall.

Landing on one foot, losing balance and falling was enough for Heat fans to imagine a serious injury was about to happen. And everything came true, the Heat announced that Dru Smith had a grade 3 ACL, the most serious level, and had to miss the entire 2023/24 season.

He will need at least 6 months to fully recover. However, the ACL is a very serious injury and the possibility of early recurrence is not high. For a mid-range player like Dru Smith who has to work hard to win each small contract, this injury could take away his entire NBA career.

Coach Erik Spoelstra criticized the Cleveland Cavaliers’ floor

Heat coach Spoelstra is of course very angry with his student’s injury. According to him, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ field design is one of the reasons that made Smith’s injury worse.

“That’s very dangerous. Injuries are always lurking, when playing on a field like that. If it were a normal design, nothing would have happened. This problem happened many years ago, But luckily no one was injured. But that is a dangerous position and injuries can happen at any time,’ coach Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra pointed out that the Cavaliers’ floor is slightly higher than the spectator seating area compared to normal arenas, and that makes the players’ landings potentially more risky.

Dru Smith is enjoying a salary of $1.8 million at the Miami Heat, but is only guaranteed $425,000. His role is not too big for the Heat, so this injury does not greatly affect the ambitions of Coach Spoelstra and his team.

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