Devin Cannady’s amazing NBA journey won’t be defined by his tragic injury

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Devin Cannady Magic injury

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Sometimes, things just don’t make any sense. On Sunday, Orlando Magic guard Devin Cannady’s NBA journey took a horrific turn as the 24-year-old suffered a tragic leg injury in the opening quarter of their game against the Indiana Pacers.

Cannady was taken out on a stretcher after landing awkwardly while challenging a lay-up on the break. It was later reported that Cannady suffered an open fracture on his right ankle with surgery imminent.

Update: Undrafted Magic rookie Devin Cannady will undergo surgery after suffering an open fracture on his ankle.
Wishing Devin a speedy recovery ?pic.twitter.com/yQRpzaubI1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 26, 2021

The injury was so bad that his teammate Mo Bamba immediately took off his jersey to help cover Cannady’s gruesome injury. You hate to see these things happen.

Mo Bamba, on putting his jersey over Devin Cannady’s open ankle fracture: “I just saw my teammate was down, and I just did what he would probably do for me. I just thought quick and I didn’t want him to see (the injury). I just took my shirt off my back and gave it to him.”
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) April 26, 2021

Devin Cannady’s NBA journey
2020-21 has been quite a season filled with crazy injuries, but Cannady’s case is surely up there as one of the worst. Hearing how hard the young baller worked to get into the league only makes things harder to fathom.
Cannady’s basketball career started  as a three-star recruit for the Marian High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. The guard had a handful of D1 offers but eventually committed to the Princeton Unversity where he would play all of his four years in the NCAA. After finishing his Princeton stint by notching the fifth-highest scoring total in university history with 1,515 career points, Cannady took his chances and joined the stacked 2019 NBA Draft, where he would go undrafted. Nonetheless, not being called on Draft Night didn’t stop the crafty guard from pursuing his goals to become a professional basketball player.
From there, Cannady kept his foot on the gas and made sure he’ll keep on chasing his NBA dream and joined the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Summer League squad. He eventually signed with the Brooklyn Nets before the 2019-2020 season by was immediately waved right before the season began. This pushed Cannady to the NBA G League where he would flourish for the Long Island Nets while completing his sociology degree from Princeton.
Devin Cannady’s rookie season in the G League ended with him averaging 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game in over 40 games. This was good enough for another team to give Cannady another look as the Magic signed the point guard after the NBA Bubble. Unfortunately, Cannady was again waived by the Magic after just two pre-season games and saw himself going back to the NBA G League for his second season, this time for the Lakeland Magic.
The 24-year-old dominated and led the Magic to the 2021 G League championship where he was named the G League Finals MVP after helping the Magic win the 2021 G League title. Cannady dropped 22 points in the finals against the Delaware Blue Coats which forced Orlando to give him another shot at the pros.

After his impressive 2021 G League stint, Cannady finally signed his first 10-day contract with the Magic before being waived after just three games. But, three days later, Cannady was called back up and signed a two-way contract with the Magic.
Prior to his tragic evening on Sunday, Cannady erupted for 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep in 24 minutes off the bench. He was looking to follow up on his impressive performance in just his eighth game in the NBA which was cut short by this freak accident.
Prayers up for Devin Cannady. We’re looking forward to him making his return to the league soon.



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