'My husband is a solider': Prather out for season

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Brisbane Bullets leading scorer Casey Prather has blown out his knee and is out for the rest the season.

Prather, 34, drove to the bucket with 7:18 to go in the fourth quarter last night with the Bullets down 96-65 in the Round 9 Ignite Cup clash against the New Zealand Breakers.

Prather's wife Ariana, an NBL reporter wrote on X: "Thank you for the prayers, love and support🙏 news better than expected with no tendons or ligaments (ACL, Patellar, etc) broken. We’re taking it one step at a time starting with surgery later today. My husband is a solider, and will be back in due time."

Head coach Stu Lash has drawn considerable and sharp criticism today by commentators and fans for leaving the forward in the game with the contest over when he injured his knee.

Prather, who was averaging 24.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds, had surgery today to "correct a hardware-related fixation issue," NBL.com.au reports.

"Although Prather's scans came back better than expected, with no major tendon or ligament damage, the injury will sideline the University of Florida alum until the end of the 2025-26 campaign."

It means the metal hardware from his earlier knee surgery isn’t holding properly, so doctors operated to adjust or replace it and restore stability.

Lash said last night: "I mean, we talk about brotherhood, and obviously we get around him and we love him and support him and, you know, we'll see what the next 24–48 hours bring on that.

"Clearly he's got a history with that knee and he knew — sort of had some idea of what happened. Sometimes you just need a day or two to really evaluate it, get it looked at. I mean, obviously it was his knee, so, you know, we hope for the best and we pray for him."

Unfortunately for Prather, and Lash, his season is done for the 5-8 Bullets.

"It's hard," lash added.

"Yeah, it's hard. I mean, he's a great person. He's a great ambassador for the club. He's a leader for us.

"We all know what he's been through and what he does for us on a day-to-day.But the one thing this group has proven time and time again this year is, you know, when our backs are up against the wall, we find a way.

"We've faced a lot of adversity this year and we've been able to respond, and you know, this will only continue to pull our group together.But make no mistake — tonight was an embarrassment for our fans. Like, just not good enough. Not tough enough.

"Not physical enough. And, you know, if we're gonna play like this, we're gonna be in for a long season.

"So I think no changes will be made on, you know, how we play and how we approach.

Prather will be replaced by Lamar Patterson against Melbourne United in Melbourne on Saturday night.

Lash was asked about his roster given the injury.

"Yeah, I don't — you know, again, not gonna really comment on any roster decisions right now," he said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Casey, and, you know, we believe in every guy in this group.

"I told them if you don't have a belief that we can go into Melbourne on Saturday and get a win, don't even show up on Friday.

"And the group — the group is ready. Like I said, it is a very, very tight-knit, tough, resilient group that has been through a lot early this season.

"And we're all in this together."

Lash again used the phrase games to "flush" and this one was another for the Bullets.

"We talked just quickly after the game and, you know, there's a few key areas that we need to improve in, and it's not an overhaul by any means.

"You have two or three games this season like this that you flush.

"You don't want to have them in the first third of the year because you only get so many. So, you know, our backs are up against the wall right now with this, and we have to be better."

Unfortunately it looks as though the Bullets season is going that way, too.