On Monday night, Moses Moody returned from a 10-game absence due to a sprained right wrist and was putting on a show, leading the Golden State Warriors with 23 points as they led in overtime against the Dallas Mavericks. With just over a minute to play, Moody stole the ball from Cooper Flagg and had a clear lane for a dunk that likely would have sealed the win for the Warriors.

As Moody went up to dunk the ball, his left leg planted awkwardly while he was loading up to jump, and he fell to the floor, clutching his left knee. Moody had to be stretchered off the floor as players, coaches, and fans from both teams looked on in shock.

Moody would fly back home with the Warriors on Tuesday afternoon and receive an MRI to assess the damage. The MRI just confirmed the worst expectations.

As reported by Shams Charania on X, Moody was diagnosed with a torn left patellar tendon in his left knee. It's the ligament that connects the kneecap to the shinbone, and plays an obviously crucial role in extending the knee for running and jumping motions.

The timeline of Moody's recovery is unclear at this moment, but he will miss the rest of the 2025-26 season and will require rehab that bleeds into a significant portion of the 2026-27 season, if not even into the 2027-28 season, depending on how his body responds.

Warriors' broadcaster and former player Kelenna Azubuike suffered the same injury during his playing days in the late 2000's. After he suffered that injury, he played just three more games in his NBA career, though that can also be attributed to the initial surgery having some complications.

On the TV broadcast, Azubuike immediately recognized the injury, making it all the more heartbreaking.

Other players to have suffered this type of injury in the past two decades are Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, Jeremy Lin, and Caron Butler. Oladipo's situation as an older player with a history of leg injuries means his NBA career coming to a close soon after likely shouldn't apply to Moody.

Lin and Butler's career outlooks are more promising for Moody. Lin was younger and still managed to play another full season of NBA basketball averaging about 20 minutes per game before he started jumping between the G-League and overseas in China and Taiwan.

Butler was 30 years old, but still managed to come back and play four more seasons of quality 25-minute-per-game basketball. His build is also closest to Moody's in terms of height and weight, indicating some promise for how Moody could return.

Ultimately, as long as the surgery goes well and there aren't any major complications or setbacks along the way, Moody should theoretically be back to full strength anywhere between 12-18 months.