Dwyane Wade will be out for the remainder of the Chicago Bulls' regular season after spraining his elbow Wednesday night, the team announced.
"This morning, Dwyane Wade underwent an MRI for a right elbow injury suffered in the fourth quarter of last night’s game vs. the Memphis Grizzlies," the team said in a Thursday afternoon statement. "The results of the MRI showed a sprain and a small fracture in the elbow. Wade will be out the remainder of the regular season."
The Bulls lost for the sixth time in seven games when they were defeated by the Grizzlies 98-91.
Wade suffered the sprain late in the game when he collided with a teammate and Memphis' Zach Raldoph while going for a rebound. Wade tried to play through the ailment, but the injury caused him to miss the final 8:34 of the game.
Although Wade has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season, he has opted against having surgery on the injury and will try to return for the playoffs if he is cleared by doctors.
A postseason bid is not guaranteed for the Bulls, who currently sit one game behind the Detroit Pistons in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 14 games left to play.
"Hopefully it's not as bad as I perceived it to be," Wade told reporters after the game, with his arm in a sling. "I knew it was something more just because of what I heard. I tried to play through it a little bit until the pain started getting a little more."
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg announced late Wednesday that the Bulls guard would be undergoing an MRI Thursday morning.
Just before 9 a.m., Wade sent out a series of prayer emojis on his Twitter account in what is assumed to be a reference to the procedure.
The team made the official announcement just before noon, three hours later.
With an opt-out clause in the contract he signed with the Bulls before the season, Wade could potentially have played his last game as a member of the team. He has been critical of the team's front office and teammates' effort at various points in the season, so his status for next year is very much up in the air after this latest setback.
