And the results are in for… LVI. LEAST Valuable Injury
Injuries are often a big talking point during the season, so now the chapter is closed let’s have a look at who truly was hit the hardest.
Injury impact can be viewed in many ways. I’ve looked at four criteria for teams across the league. Sparing you the detailed methodology/caveats, here’s a quick breakdown:
| Rank | Games Missed | Salaries Lost ($M) | Impact Missed (EPM) | Wins Missed (WAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MEM (601) | DAL (109.2) | BOS (92.8) | MEM (23) |
| 2 | IND (418) | MEM (96.9) | OKC (90.7) | DAL (22) |
| 3 | DAL (401) | IND (94.9) | MEM (82.3) | POR (20) |
| 4 | OKC (394) | SAC (85.9) | GSW (76.5) | IND (19) |
| 5 | POR (385) | OKC (85.1) | DAL (75.9) | OKC (18) |
| Rank | Games Missed | Salaries Lost ($M) | Impact Missed (EPM) | Wins Missed (WAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | BOS (100) | MIN (21.0) | WAS (-42.8) | MIN (3) |
| 29 | MIN (104) | SAS (24.1) | BRK (-26.3) | BKN (4) |
| 28 | NYK (144) | BRK (24.9) | SAC (-10.2) | WAS (4) |
| 27 | SAS (146) | WAS (25.4) | CHI (-8.6) | CHA (6) |
| 26 | TOR (155) | NYK (25.8) | MIA (2.9) | TOR (6) |
For the most part, these are relatively consistent.
As it turns out, missing high amounts of salary is a decent determiner of how much value you lose.
https://reddit.com/link/1sks2ek/video/gec7euq1m1vg1/player
Games missed less so.
https://reddit.com/link/1sks2ek/video/hbamds86m1vg1/player
For the hell of it, here’s a look at the players themselves
https://reddit.com/link/1sks2ek/video/l2icu71im1vg1/player
^(Sources:) ^(https://www.spotrac.com/nba/injured/_/year/2025/view/player)^(,) ^(https://www.spotrac.com/nba/contracts)^(,) ^(https://dunksandthrees.com/epm/actual)^(,) ^(https://dunksandthrees.com/epm)^(,) ^(https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2026_totals.html)^(,) ^(https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2025_totals.html)^(,) ^(https://www.bball-index.com/lebron-application/)