While Dyson Daniels is thriving in Atlanta, the Aussie basketball star has cheekily described his former NBA side New Orleans as “cursed” amid continued injury problems.
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Daniels is flourishing at the Hawks in a breakout season from the 21-year old, who leads the NBA in steals (3.0) and deflections (6.3) in 33.8 minutes per game playing alongside superstar guard Trae Young in the backourt.
It’s earned Daniels the nickname Great Barrier Thief, in line for All-Defensive First Team honours and a contender for Defensive Player of the Year as one of the boom recruit across the NBA.
The young gun has also importantly avoided the injury bug, having missed only two games this season, though the same can’t be said for the Pelicans.
New Orleans has endured a brutal injury toll that’s long hamstrung the team, with all its key stars including Zion Williamson missing time amid a dismal 5-21 start.
And so Daniels is enjoying a change of scenery at the 14-12 Hawks, who are bracing for an NBA Cup semi-final showdown with Milwaukee in Las Vegas, after the off-season trade that saw the Aussie swap places with Dejounte Murray.
“That organisation’s cursed,” Daniels told The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer. “Every year there’s something new. I’m happy I’m not there anymore.”
Asked to elaborate, Daniels with a “wry grin” discussed the team’s ongoing injury struggles including his own while a member of the team.
“The curse, man,” Daniels said. “I had like four or five ankle injuries down there as well. There’s something down in that water down there or something. They got hamstrings. They got knees. They got concussions and stuff as well. They get everything down there. I don’t know what it is. Playing hard I guess?”
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Indeed, it’s been tough goings for the injury plagued Pelicans after they won 49 games last season and added Murray to their core, with the team’s lengthy list of casualties hampering it from climbing the West standings.
So much so that New Orleans currently sit dead last in the Western Conference, while Williamson is sidelined indefinitely with a hamstring issue.
Daniels played 120 of a possible 164 games in two seasons for New Orleans — due to a combination of injuries and just limited rotation minutes — after getting drafted with the No. 8 pick in 2022.
The Bendigo product said he was “fuelled” by how his first two years went and not “happy with how I played.” But he doesn’t hold the franchise — or any unspeakable force — responsible for it.
“I don’t point fingers at anyone,” Daniels added.
“I blame myself. I wasn’t consistent. My first two years I was up and down. I had great games and I had really bad games. I didn’t find that consistency and we had a lot of players in New Orleans.”
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