First, the straight news: the Chicago Bulls have announced that Alex Caruso will undergo surgery for a fractured right wrist and will be re-evaluated in 6-to-8 weeks.
Injury Update: Alex Caruso will undergo surgery early next week and be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks after sustaining a fracture of his right wrist in last night’s game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 22, 2022
Now, the rage: Caruso suffered the injury after a ridiculous, disgusting, inexcusable flagrant-2 foul by Bucks forward Grayson Allen. Caruso went up for a layup in transition before Allen grabbed his arm and swung the Bulls guard to the floor. Caruso did stay in and play the remainder of the game, but head coach Billy Donovan (who blasted Allen after the game) mentioned that he was experiencing a wrist issue after the game.
In case you missed it, here’s the cheap shot (notice how Allen grabs Caruso’s right bicep):
Grayson Allen draws a flagrant 2 for a HARD foul on Alex Caruso pic.twitter.com/NjCJEzo7zu
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) January 22, 2022
For the Bulls, this will be their second player to undergo surgery after a flagrant foul. Patrick Williams dislocated his wrist on October 28th after Knicks’ center Mitchell Robinson fouled him hard at the basket. To be clear, Robinson’s appeared far less intentional, but I’m sure that didn’t make the news sting any less for this Bulls organization.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Bulls have expressed private outrage to the league office over the Allen foul. No action has yet been taken, and the Bucks do play again tonight against the Sacramento Kings.
Bulls have expressed public and private outage to league office on Allen’s Flagrant 2 foul on Friday night — coupled with his personal history of plays considered to be dirty. Billy Donovan said, “He had a history of this…it was really dangerous.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 22, 2022
Caruso recently returned from a foot injury and stint in health and safety protocols that forced him to miss 13 games. He appeared in the team’s last two games, significantly bolstering their defensive execution even with a minutes restriction off the bench.
Now, sidelined for a month-plus (remember, re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks doesn’t mean returning in 6-8 weeks), the Bulls will be without Caruso, Lonzo Ball, and Patrick Williams for the foreseeable future. The window remains open for the Bulls to enter the playoffs fully healthy, but this is a significant blow for a team trying to stay in the mix for the East’s top spot.
K. Time to suspend Grayson Allen, NBA!