Former Indiana basketball guard Jalen Hood-Schifino to miss ‘at least’ first week of season

The NBA season is set to begin on Tuesday but one former Indiana basketball standout could be sidelined for a while.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino has been dealing with a right patella contusion for the last few days and will likely miss ‘at least’ the first week of his rookie season. According to Lakers Senior NBA Writer Dave McMenamin, Hood-Schifino will be re-evaluated Nov. 3.

Hood-Schifino, the No. 17 overall selection in this summer’s NBA Draft, was in the middle of an impressive training camp. He not only was receiving high praise from Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, but also a lot of his teammates.

“Yeah he was phenomenal … I don’t think anyone would disagree if I called him the MVP of day one,” Ham said at the start of training camp. “He was very solid. We are really, really excited about him.

“Jalen is really soft spoken, I said, ‘kid you are going to be a 15-year point guard in this league with the skillset you have, with the way you are going to get better and how young you are’ … Played with a lot of moxie … he plays with stability. You can’t speed him up, you can’t slow him down. He’s a fierce competitor in a silent way. You are not going to be able to do whatever you want with him. He is going to guard the hell out of the ball.”

In four games this preseason, the former Indiana basketball guard averaged just 3.5 points on just 5-of-28 from the field.

During six Summer League games, Hood-Schifino averaged 13.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He struggled shooting the ball, again, at just 34 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from three.

Hood-Schifino’s work ethic has always stood out. And being a sponge this training camp is exactly his approach.

“The main thing is being all ears and all eyes and just learning from those guys,” Hood-Schifino said of all the veterans training camp. “They are all really good players. To have all those guys is really cool. Ask a lot of questions, a lot of learning and getting better every day.”

Hood-Schifino was just the second Indiana basketball player to be invited to the NBA Green Room for draft night since 2013. He had a sensational freshman year at Indiana, averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He was the first Indiana basketball basketball player to have multiple 30+ point games in his first season since Eric Gordon.

The Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets at 7:30 pm on Tuesday in the season opener.

SEE ALSO: 7 former Indiana basketball players set to begin 2023-24 NBA season on active rosters

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