Aaron Gordon concerned Nuggets fans with his appearance on Friday as the Denver forward sported a black eye while speaking to reporters.
Gordon had noticeable bruising underneath his left eye, while some believed he had a swollen lip as well.
And while the 2023 NBA champion told reporters that his black eye ‘felt fine,’ fans all had the same reaction in response to the troubling video.
‘Who the hell did he fight,’ one asked on X.
‘I wouldn’t want to see the other guy,’ a second said.
‘Who whooped his a**?’ another said.
Aaron Gordon concerned fans as he sported a black eye on Friday during a press availability
Gordon still appeared to have the shiner as he arrived at the Nuggets game on Saturday
A fourth theorized that it ‘Probably wasn’t an incidental elbow during practice.’
And a fifth said: ‘Why is he even in the arena instead of a hospital? Man looks jacked up — it looks like it hurts just to talk.’
The availability began with Gordon being asked about his black eye – a question which he answered somewhat coyly.
‘It feels fine, it looks worse than it is,’ he said. ‘I don’t know, sometime during the regular season I probably didn’t get a call.’
The Nuggets’ last regular season game came nearly a week ago, against the Rockets last Sunday.
Gordon did appear to have some sort of a blemish underneath his eye during that game, though it did not look as extreme as the injury he showed off on Friday.
Nonetheless, the 29-year-old was fine to start for the Nuggets in Game 1 of their first round playoff series versus the Clippers on Saturday.
Gordon did appear to have some sort of a blemish under his eye in the regular season finale
It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for Denver after they shockingly fired head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth on April 8.
Assistant David Adelman has since taken over as head coach.
Gordon, who was traded to Denver during the 2020-21 season, played an important role during 2022-23 as the team went on to win the title.
He started all 20 games in the postseason and averaged 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in the playoffs as Denver ultimately defeated the Heat in five games in the NBA Finals.
