THEY call the three-point shot “the equalizer.” And many times, as when a barrage of triples hits the opposing team in succession, they call it “the game changer.”
Converted three-point attempts do change the game in a happy way. But there’s a grim version of the game changer that’s harder to control than “pektus” or a “glorious trajectory.”
In a word, injuries.
The number and variety of injuries now besetting players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) has attracted more attention than in pre-Covid times.
That more NBA stars have been affected by it in recent days makes the injury update report truly concerning. LeBron James. Anthony Davis. James Harden. Kevin Durant. Luka Doncic. Jaylen Brown. Zion Williamson. John Wall. Gordon Hayward. Why so many of them today? Could the shortened season have something to do with it?
More concerning is that many of the injuries sustained by prominent players are season-ending ones.
Picture this. Each team plays a total of 72 games in 2020-2021—10 less than during the pre-pandemic period, true. But the season—which began in December and will end in July for the Finals—has been shortened by a month. Some say the shortened season that makes teams play three to four games a week within a tight five-month window prior to the playoffs is responsible for the fatigue and injuries that have affected all 30 NBA teams without exception. Some teams more than others.
Injuries have certainly changed the game for the Los Angeles Lakers who have been picked to do a repeat of their championship feat in the 2020 season. They were on top of the heap during the first part of the season, but successive losses without their two vanguards have dropped them to an iffy seventh spot in the western conference.
Their archrivals, the Boston Celtics, have been on a roller coaster ride all season long, but newfound magic borne of a sense of urgency put them back on track. Until one of the Jays—Jaylen Brown—went down recently with a torn scapholunate ligament, a wrist injury that takes three to six months to heal. Robert Williams III’s turf toe injury has made matters worse.
As for the New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson’s fractured left ring finger which will take him out of the action indefinitely as of now is devastating with a capital D.
For the record, as of the latest NBA injury report by CBS Sports, there are 124 assorted injuries being suffered by various players of all the 30 teams.
The team that has the most players in the injury list is the Houston Rockets (11), followed by the Orlando Magic, the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers with 8 injured players apiece. They are followed by the Los Angelers Lakers, the Oklahoma Thunder and the Indiana Pacers with six injured players each.
The Golden State Warriors have five players at “sick bay,” followed by the Atlanta Hawks, the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans with four injured players each. Five teams have 3 players each on the injured list: the Brooklyn Nets, the Charlotte Hornets, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks.
The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves each have players currently unavailable. While the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks have one player each who have to sit out the games.
As for the injuries or ailments that have sidelined both stars and bench players, the most numerous cases are injuries to the ankle (26 players), followed by knee injuries (22), hamstring injuries (nine), foot injuries (eight), Covid-19 (seven), calf injuries (six), back injuries (five), toe injuries (four), wrist injuries (four), groin injuries (three), Achilles heel injuries (three), and injuries to the hip (two), thumb (two) and finger (two).
Individual players are nursing injuries to the leg (one), neck (one), elbow (one), forehead (one), abdomen (one), eye (one), oblique (one) and shoulder. Four players have been advised to rest, two are coping with non-Covid illness, two are out for personal reasons and one is out due to coach’s decision.
Nine teams have single or multiple players who are out for the season: Matthew Dellevedova for the Cavs, Jamal Murray for the Nuggets, Klay Thompson and James Wiseman for the Golden State Warriors, John Wall and Dante Exum for the Houston Rockets, TJ Warren for the Pacers, Jarret Culver for the Timberwolves, Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac for the Magic, Devi Avdija and Thomas Bryant for the Washington Wizards and Jaylen Brown for the Boston Celtics.
In hopes of preventing more injuries and to deal with fatigue, many teams have rested key players on the second night of back-to-backs. But then fans raise a howl because they don’t get to see their stars and favorites in action.
The Covid situation has certainly forced these adjustments to be made so the league can strike some kind of balance between making fans keep on enjoying the games while also safeguarding the health and safety of the players.
One thing is sure. Back-to-backs stretch players’ minds and bodies to the limit. It is not the teams that can manage their time, talents and resources well that will come out on top at the end of it all. It’s the team with the greatest luck to have health and strength on its side till the very last that will have the arms to hoist up the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
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