Game Over: Nets’ Promising 1st-Round Pick Forced to Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

Dariq Whitehead, the 22nd pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets, will undergo season-ending surgery on a stress reaction in his left shin. It will mark the shooting guard’s third lower leg surgery in the last 18 months.

Whitehead, the nation’s No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2022 per ESPN, saw his freshman season at Duke derailed after he was forced to undergo surgery on his left foot in August of 2022. He averaged 8.3 points on 42.1 percent shooting for the Blue Devils, primarily serving as a catch-and-shoot threat while limited as a ball handler and finisher.

Whitehead then needed another surgery to address the foot fracture in June ahead of the draft, performed by Nets team orthopedist Dr. Martin O’Malley. The first-round pick appeared in two NBA games this season. He played 17 games in the G-League, averaging 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 38/27/85 shooting splits in 18.5 minutes per night.

Despite Whitehead’s struggles with foot injuries, Nets general manager Sean Marks did not lack conviction when speaking about his draft selection. Brooklyn’s performance team has experience with foot injuries, having successfully rehabbed Caris Levert, who also underwent surgery by O’Malley after the 2016 draft.

That familiarly inspired confidence in Whitehead’s trajectory.

“Had he been at full strength, he would’ve gone a lot higher,” Marks said after the draft. “It gives us the conviction when we’re drafting a guy like that to know we’ve been through this process before. We’ve had a young man through here, Caris LeVert, who had been through similar foot injuries. We’re very comfortable with the person, the chip on his shoulder, and the performance team and coaching staff here to get him back to where he needs to get to. I have no doubt about that.”

Jacque Vaughn said he does not yet have a timeline for Whitehead’s recovery, but the team will provide an update after the surgery on Monday.