The New Orleans Pelicans’ rotten injury luck is extending to the NBA offseason as well.
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado was suited up on Thursday for Puerto Rico, whom he represents nationally, during FIBA AmeriCup play. Puerto Rico was playing against Argentina in the quarterfinal of the tournament, which is held once every several years and features national teams from both North America and South America playing against each other.
The quarterfinal game went into overtime, and during the extra period, Alvarado took a nasty spill. Alvarado was wrestling for a loose ball and got upended, resulting in him falling hard on his tailbone area.
Immediately, Alvarado began writhing on the floor in agony, and he eventually had to be taken off the court on a stretcher. Here is the video.
#AmeriCup2025 Nuestro José Alvarado tiene que salir del partido contra Argentina tras una fuerte caída en el tiempo extra.
¡Pronta recuperación, campeón!
Pendientes a https://t.co/pj7ONbpWIu y #WapaDeportes para más detalles. pic.twitter.com/mV5Ia1MpTl
— #WAPADeportes (@wapadeportes) August 29, 2025
Argentina, who won the last FIBA AmeriCup in 2022, went on to defeat Puerto Rico by a final score of 82-77. They now advance to the semifinal round to play against the winner of the Canada-Colombia quarterfinal match.
As for Alvarado, nicknamed “Grand Theft,” he is a fan favorite for the Pelicans who is known for his pesky style of play and his other various antics. But Alvarado is also fairly prone to injuries and has missed 20 or more games in every single season of his NBA career thus far.
The good news for the Pelicans is that Alvarado’s summer session is now over as Puerto Rico was eliminated from the FIBA AmeriCup with Thursday’s loss. But with training camp set to begin in roughly a month, New Orleans will be holding its collective breath that Alvarado’s injury is not nearly as bad as it looked.