Maliq Brown injury update: Duke forward reportedly stretchered out of arena at ACC Tournament

Duke suffered some potentially significant injuries in the first half of a game against Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament on Thursday. First Maliq Brown was injured, then superstar Cooper Flagg went down after seemingly twisting his ankle.

But while Flagg returned to the Blue Devils bench after getting a tape job on his ankle, Brown was ruled out of the contest. And viewer reports from journalists at the event indicated it could be serious.

Brown was seen by WRAL sports anchor Chris Lea being stretched out from the arena. An ominous sign, potentially.

Maliq Brown appeared to have re-injured his left shoulder midway through the first half of Thursday’s ACC Tournament game against Georgia Tech and was helped to the locker room. The 6-foot-9 Brown reached in on a dribble-drive play by Tech’s Naithan George with roughly five minutes left in the opening half and immediately grabbed his ailing left shoulder.

After a brief meeting with trainers on the Duke bench, Brown was helped to the locker room. A few moments later, Duke tweeted that Maliq Brown had been ruled out for the game.

Brown is still recovering from a dislocated left shoulder suffered in mid-February against Virginia, with X-rays and an MRI revealing the damage. Brown has also missed time this season with a sprained toe and a sprained knee.

Brown didn’t record any stats Thursday after just about four minutes of action after coming off the bench against Georgia Tech. That was well off his usual pace.

The Blue Devils forward has averaged 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 points and 1.6 assists per game. He’s been a valuable contributor off the bench.

Now Duke will have to wait to see how severe the injury to Maliq Brown is. But being stretchered off doesn’t necessarily bode well.

On3’s Alex Byington and Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this report.