"Something's Fishy": Bill Simmons Blames Modern Sneakers for Anthony Edwards, Jalen Duran & Other NBA Injuries

Anthony Edwards scored 47 points in an overtime loss at Cleveland on Monday, then learned the next day that he needs knee surgery. The Timberwolves guard was averaging a career-best 33 points a game, and he is now set to miss about two months.

His injury is one of several to hit the league in the opening weeks, and it has Bill Simmons asking whether the problem starts at players' feet. Simmons, speaking about the wave of recent injuries, said he does not buy the usual explanation.

"Something's fishy about all of it. It can't just be the wear and tear in basketball being harder… Guys love the ability to do Eurosteps… I wonder if the technology is actually working against them in some cases," he said.

His theory is that modern shoe technology may be letting players make cuts and changes of direction their joints cannot absorb. It is a theory, not a finding. Simmons did not cite a study, and nothing in the injury reports reviewed links any of these cases to footwear.

The cases he is reacting to are piling up. Edwards had been dealing with a right knee issue, suffered a setback in the season opener against Miami, and chose arthroscopic surgery after an MRI.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported he could miss up to two months, while The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski said "at least" two months. Before Monday's game, coach Chris Finch had said, "It's a daily situation, I don't think there's any long term concern." In May, Tim Connelly said Edwards would not need surgery and only needed rest.

Detroit's Jalen Duren was ruled out at least two weeks with a right hamstring strain after leaving a 128-111 win over Miami in the second quarter. He signed a five-year, $200 million extension this offseason. Utah's Jaren Jackson Jr. has a torn right MCL and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, while OKC's Jalen Williams has a fractured fibula and dislocated left ankle, and Orlando's Paolo Banchero has an ankle sprain that will sideline him four to six weeks.

The sneaker argument has been around since Achilles tears hit stars like Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard in 2025. Kevin Durant said low-cut shoes have "absolutely nothing" to do with those injuries, according to a report, and Haliburton has said the rise in Achilles tears was likely bad luck.

Edwards' history also points to causes other than footwear. He played just 61 games last season because of trouble in both knees and an early hamstring injury, which left him short of the 65-game threshold for awards such as MVP and All-NBA. This season he leads the league in made field goals (12.5) and attempts (26.0) per game, a workload that comes with a lot of contact and landings.

Duren, meanwhile, has been hit by repeated lower-body issues, and a hamstring strain is not a shoe-related injury in any obvious way.

The league has not offered any data pointing to footwear as a cause. For Minnesota, the practical problem is simpler. The team that started the year with the best scoring start in its history now has to cover for Edwards for roughly two months, and nobody can say yet whether the injuries has anything to do with his shoes.