Charlotte Hornets Announce Coby White Injury Update Ahead of Preseason Opener

The ramp up to the regular season hasn't been kind to the Charlotte Hornets.

10 days after announcing that Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams would be missing the preseason with hamstring injuries, the franchise also ruled out Coby White for the preseason with a calf injury.

Based on how the Hornets disseminated the information, in a late Monday afternoon X post and not a formal press release, my read on the situation is that White's injury should be seen as similar to what his teammates are dealing with: one that likely isn't a long-term problem.

It's never a good thing to lose your starting point guard for the preseason, though.

The Hornets are going to lean on White to shepherd their offense in the regular season, and preseason reps as a starter alongside Brandon Miller, Naz Reid, and Moussa Diabate, would have been valuable to build chemistry before the regular season.

On the other hand, it does make sense for the team to be overly cautious with even the slightest of injuries in the preseason, so I understand why they quickly ruled out White, Knueppel, and Williams for these glorified scrimmages.

In 21 games as a Hornet last season, White averaged 15.6 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game off of the bench. The Hornets don't want Coby White to be a like-for-like replacement of the outgoing LaMelo Ball, but he will function as the primary ball handler on offense that will get the team's dizzying offensive system churning to open up possessions.

Charlotte opens the regular season in Brooklyn on October 22nd, and we'll wait to see how his availabilty progresses between now and then.

Christian Anderson Jr.'s Opportunity

Christian Anderson Jr. should now see a bunch of action in the preseason. At this point I'm assuming that Dennis Schroder will step into the starting point guard role with Anderson Jr. spelling him. With both White and Kylan Boswell Jr. ruled out for the preseason, the Hornets will need their rookie point guard to play a major role over the next few weeks.

Giving Anderson these low stakes reps in the preseason could do wonders for his development. The NBA preseason will never be lauded for it's intensity, but letting Anderson sink or swim against live bullets will teach himself, and the Hornets, what needs to be done before he plays a role in regular season games this year.

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