The Basketball Injury Kevin Ware Suffered: What Happened and Where He Is Now

March 31, 2013, Louisville vs Duke, Elite Eight. That’s the basketball injury Kevin Ware is still known for, and honestly, it’s still hard to watch back. The Cardinals guard came down wrong, snapped his right leg, and the bone broke clean through the skin on live TV. From the floor, he told his teammates to win the game. They did.

The Basketball Injury Kevin Ware Suffered, Explained

Louisville was playing Duke in the Elite Eight of the Midwest Regional. Kevin Ware was just a role player at that point quick, solid on defense, a guy who’d carved out decent minutes on a really good team. Nothing about him stood out beyond that.

Then, about 6 minutes and 33 seconds into the first half, he went up to contest a three from Duke’s Tyler Thornton, came down awkwardly, and that was it.

The Louisville player’s leg injury that followed was unlike anything anyone in that building had seen tibia snapping clean through the skin, right there on the court in front of everyone. Teammates dropped to their knees. Some just turned away and couldn’t look. Pitino pulled the guys into a huddle to keep them together while doctors worked on him, and Ware was eventually carried off to Methodist Hospital, where surgeons spent two full hours putting a rod in his tibia. Years later, people still bring it up as one of those moments you genuinely can’t unsee.

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Why This Injury Was So Dangerous

An open fracture isn’t just gruesome to look at; it’s genuinely dangerous too. Once the skin breaks like that, an open fracture isn’t just horrible to watch; it actually puts you in real danger. The moment skin breaks like that, bacteria can get in, so infection is immediately a concern. Then there’s deep vein thrombosis, where a blood clot forms and can travel to the lungs.

Compartment syndrome is another one: swelling cuts off blood flow to the muscle, and sometimes the only fix is emergency surgery to release the pressure. One podiatry practice that looked back at the case said it really was as bad as it looked, though Ware’s surgery went well from the start.

“Win the Game”: How One Sentence Shaped Louisville’s Title Run

Still flat on the floor, being treated, Ware looked up at his teammates and basically told them to relax and go handle business. They went out and beat Duke 85-63, booked their Final Four spot. Tom Jurich said later that watching Pitino hold that team together in that moment was leadership at its best. Louisville rode that wave all the way to Atlanta, beat Michigan for the national title, and Ware was right there celebrating on crutches. The NCAA wiped that championship off the books in 2018, but nobody really talks about it like it didn’t happen.

News of the injury traveled fast. Kobe Bryant sent a message. Michelle Obama called him while he was still in the hospital. And somewhere in the middle of all that recovery, he adopted a pit bull puppy and named him Scar.

From Louisville to Georgia State: Kevin Ware’s Comeback

Getting back took almost a full year. First basket back came seven months after the injury, during the 2013-14 season – small moment, big deal. He wanted more run, so Georgia State made sense. Moved there in 2014, did not sit out the redshirt year, then made both seasons count – nearly ten points a game, Sun Belt Tournament MVP in 2015, and helped the program get into the NCAA basketball tournament that year.

Did Kevin Ware Ever Make the NBA?

Did he ever make the NBA? No. Despite all the attention, Ware went undrafted in 2016 and never joined the long list of Louisville players who became NBA basketball players. That didn’t end things for him, though. He just took his game overseas, playing professional basketball in Finland, the Czech Republic, Greece, Canada, the UK, Serbia, Iraq, Argentina and Mexico over the years that followed, and even suited up for Jordan at the 2022 Arab Basketball Championship.

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Kevin Ware’s Career Timeline

Where Is Kevin Ware Now in 2026?

Ten-plus years since that night in Indianapolis, Ware is still out there competing — last suiting up for Correcaminos UAT in Mexico, free agent for now. Back in Georgia, Rockdale County High put him on its Wall of Fame in 2025. For a guy who went down the way he did, the fact that he kept going at all says everything.

FAQs

What injury did Kevin Ware suffer?

He broke his right tibia during Louisville’s Elite Eight game against Duke in March 2013, badly enough that the bone came through the skin.

Why was it so dangerous?

Open fractures aren’t just painful, they bring real risks like infection and blood clots on top of whatever surgery’s needed to fix the bone.

Did Louisville still win the national championship?

Yes, though the NCAA later vacated that 2013 title over violations that had nothing to do with Ware.

Is Kevin Ware in the NBA?

No, he went undrafted in 2016 and built his career overseas instead.

What’s he doing now?

As of 2026, he’s a free agent, and back in 2025, his old high school inducted him into its Wall of Fame.

Sources & References

1. Louisville Athletic Dept — Kevin Ware talks about his injury, looks to Atlanta
2. Cornerstone Foot & Ankle — March Madness Flashback: Kevin Ware
3. Wikipedia — Kevin Ware
   
4. Eurobasket — Kevin Ware Player Profile
5. ESPN — Kevin Ware Breaks Leg Against Duke (2013)
6. New York Times — Fame, Basketball and Kevin Ware Jr.