Maxwell Lewis was injured just one minute into his debut with the Brooklyn Nets after being traded by the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 29.
With the Nets down 119-101 to the Toronto Raptors with just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez elected to bring in substitutes to end the game. Lewis was one of those selected, chosen to come in for Keon Johnson with the latter having played just over 29 minutes Wednesday.
After a handful of plays, Lewis found himself open for a 3-pointer, which he calmly drained despite Raptors center Jakob Poeltl closing out on him. Poeltl appeared to step on Lewis’ foot which caused him to slip and hurt his left knee, going down in a heap just 1:05 into his Nets debut.
Lewis stayed on the floor in pain, grabbing his left knee and leg as medical personnel attended to him. He was eventually carried off the court by members of the Nets staff, unable to put any weight on his injured knee as fans held their breath for any update on the young talent.
Fernandez addressed reporters after the loss to briefly discuss Lewis’ injury, stating that the team is thinking of the young forward and hoping for the best. “The toughest part of today is seeing one of your guys going down,” the Nets head coach said somberly.
“We’re thinking about the kid. Max goes in, is ready to play. He makes a 3 and we don’t know the extent of the injury. Obviously MRI. But all our group is thinking about him and we’re sending all positive energy. So that’s what’s most important. The rest of the game doesn’t matter right now.”
Fernandez added that Lewis will “get an MRI for sure” before any updates are given on the 22-year-old’s status. “That’s as much as I can say right now and the only thing is all his teammates are thinking about him and our number one priority is him,” the 42-year-old added.
It remains to be seen how serious Lewis’ injury is, but if he is out for an extended period of time, that could hamper the Nets’ plan for the 6-foot-7 forward. Though the 22-year-old did not see consistent time with the Lakers, he did show how effective he could be while playing for Los Angeles’ G-League team.
With the South Bay Lakers, Lewis averaged 18.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 33.7 minutes per game. After he was traded to the Nets, Lewis posted a multi-photo carousel on his personal Instagram page, thanking the Lakers for the opportunity to play for Los Angeles.
“Thank You Lakeshow #justakidfromvegas,” Lewis posted shortly after the trade was finalized. Lewis, D’Angelo Russell, and three second-round picks were traded to the Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton as the Lakers look to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the right role players.
Meanwhile, Russell finished the game with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field with a game-high eight assists. He was one of two Nets players to finish with a positive plus/minus, with the other being Tyrese Martin.
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