NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton is nearing the end of his seventh NBA season and it’s safe to say that this campaign was a rough one to experience. Claxton did what he could to give Brooklyn the best chance of winning every game during this rebuilding season, including recently playing through a sprain to his right fifth finger to add to the adversity.
“I’ve been dealing with it since January, I think. It’s a pretty bad sprain. I got an MRI for it, so just got to take the proper precautions for it,” Claxton said prior to Thursday’s 123-94 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Claxton has missed the past three games as he continues to recover from the finger sprain, but he hasn’t lost sight of the fact that the organization is trying to build for the future.
“For me personally, I feel like it’s been a good year. I can take a lot of positives from the season, career-high in my free-throw percentage [for example],” Claxton said when asked about how he dealt with this tough season. “Obviously there’s always areas I can improve in as far as rebounding and things like that, but there’s a lot of positives. I feel like I matured a lot.”
Claxton, 26, is having arguably the best season of his career despite having to deal with the constant lineup changes and the multiple injuries that the team has had to deal with in the second half of the season. Claxton is averaging 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 57.1% from the field and 61.6% from the free-throw line while playing at least 69 games for the fourth straight year.
With backup center Day’Ron Sharpe being ruled out for the rest of the season due to a UCL tear in his left thumb, Claxton has had to hold down the center spot for the time being until he sustained the finger injury. While Claxton has had to deal with plenty of losing this season as Brooklyn brings along its five rookies from the 2025 NBA Draft, he seems to be in a good place heading into an offseason that hopefully leads to more winning next season.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Nic Claxton gives update on finger injury; reflects on season
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
