Michael Kidd-Gilchrist having shoulder surgery and will miss rest of NBA season

The worst fears of the Charlotte Hornets and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist have been realized.

According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, MKG will miss the rest of the season due to a torn labrum suffered for the second time in less than a year on the same shoulder.

After suffering another torn labrum, Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will undergo shoulder surgery and will miss the remainder of the season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Kidd-Gilchrist re-injured the shoulder Feb. 10 in a win over the Indiana Pacers after aggressively rehabbing from October shoulder surgery to return much sooner than expected.

The former Kentucky Wildcats star has slowly grown into an impact player for the Hornets. just like his one year at UK in which he helped lead the Cats to an NCAA title, MKG's impact in the NBA has been doing the little stuff and dirty work really well.

Defense especially has been his calling card, and his presence has been greatly missed when he's missed time due to injury.

The Hornets are 67-57 with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and 36-57 without him over the past three seasons.

— Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph) February 16, 2016

Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 13.5 points and seven rebounds over his first six games with the Hornets this season after returning from this very same injury he suffered last October.