Indiana Pacers guard Caris LeVert has entered the league's health and safety protocol and is out for Tuesday night's play-in game against the Charlotte Hornets.
LeVert, 26, who is out for the next 10 to 14 days, is averaging 24.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds over the past 10 games.
This is the latest setback in a tumultuous year for the guard.
LeVert landed in Indiana after he was traded by the Brooklyn Nets as part of the James Harden deal. His physical with the Pacers revealed a cancerous mass on his kidney that forced him to undergo surgery in January. He eventually made his Pacers debut in March.
"I talked to him on the phone earlier today. Like I said, he's hurt. He's crushed," Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren said of LeVert's mental state. "He wants to be out there, especially with all he's gone through this year with the trade and the surgery and not joining us until after the All-Star break. And how he's been playing, he's been playing great. ... He was really gearing up and going to be ready for this one. We're going to miss him. He feels bad [that he can't play]. We just gotta keep moving forward."
Bjorkgren said LeVert physically "felt fine when I talked to him on the phone."
Indiana is the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference and will host a win-or-go-home play-in game against 10th-seeded Charlotte.
Malcolm Brogdon, originally listed as questionable with a right hamstring injury, is available for the Pacers, as is Domantas Sabonis (quad), who Bjorkgren said will play without a minutes restriction.
If the Pacers win Tuesday's game, they will face the loser of the Boston Celtics-Washington Wizards game with a final chance at earning the East's No. 8 seed and a first-round playoff series against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.
