Former Michigan basketball star suffers another setback

It hasn’t been a smooth journey for Kobe Bufkin since entering the 2023 NBA Draft after playing two years at Michigan. He had an injury-plagued rookie season with the Atlanta Hawks and was expected to star in the NBA Summer League this July, but the injury bug has hit Bufkin once again.

According to a recent report, Bufkin is set to miss the whole summer after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice on Tuesday. It’s now the third injury for the former Wolverine. He suffered a fractured left thumb and a sprained toe during his rookie year with the Hawks last NBA season.

Bufkin appeared in just 17 games last year for the Hawks. He averaged 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists in 11.5 minutes per game. He also played in 14 games for Atlanta’s G-League team — College Park Skyhawks — where he averaged over 23 points.

Although the Hawks had Trae Young and Dejounte Murray in the backcourt, the plan was to play Bufkin quite a few minutes last season in a reserve role. Now that the Hawks traded Murray, Bufkin is one of many guards who will be vying for backcourt minutes. The Summer League was a chance for Bufkin to show he could be the starter alongside Young, but he will have to wait until training camp in the fall.

Bufkin entered the NBA Draft after starting in 33 games for Michigan in his sophomore year. He averaged 14 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Wolverines. He was second on the Michigan men’s basketball team with 2.9 assists per game.

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