Dr. David Chao: Ja Morant Bone Bruise Proves Jordan Poole Is Innocent

The Grizzlies have implied that Warriors G Jordan Poole injured their star by grabbing his knee, but that implication has now proven to be false. Medically, it was not believable that a significant injury to Ja Morant could be caused by such a move. Now we have confirmation.

With the announcement of a bone bruise, Poole is exonerated. Grabbing a knee and pulling is not how a bone bruise occurs. It undoubtedly happened in the moment clipped below where Morant limps after his close out towards Klay Thompson's three pointer.

Morant's knee extends, the ends of the bones jam together, and his right leg is stiff as he lands. This is the type of force that causes a bone bruise, not a grab.

Because Morant continued to play until the grab, Poole was wrongly blamed. It is common for an athlete to attempt to keep going until the pain of the bone bruise increases. Not to mention, by the time Morant exited, the game was out of reach.

The subsequent results of the MRI (X-rays do not reveal bone bruise) were not released until now. Who knows if this was an attempt at privacy, to fool the Warriors into thinking a return was possible this series or to see if the NBA would suspend Poole like Dillon Brooks was suspended after causing Gary Payton II unfortunate radial head elbow fracture.

At this point, no one is fooled anymore. With the bone bruise, it is clear that Morant is out for the rest of the series, even if the Grizzlies can avoid the next two elimination games. In fact, if Memphis gets lucky and advances, they still would not have their star back for the rest of the playoffs.

Finally, any thought that Poole caused the injury (or that it was an MCL injury at all) have been debunked.