Kavai Leonard had just finished contributing perhaps the best force of the season when he announced an indefinite truce from a knee cruciate ligament strain. Hearing this, James immediately spoke on social media to announce, "8-9 All-Stars have been injured in the playoffs this season to miss the playoffs, the highest in the league's history." ”
Considering the All-Stars who missed the playoffs this year, Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, Embiid, Mitchell, Thick Eyebrows, Conley, Harden, Leonard, there are 8 people, if you consider the Nuggets two Murray, it is exactly 9. It doesn't matter if Murray didn't make the All-Star, Paul just missed the West Finals because he tested positive for a test and may be enough to be a substitute.
James's analysis of the reasons why this season's injury is so shocking is no different from the majority of netizens, all blame Xiao Hua for wanting to make money and wanting to go crazy, and the season started prematurely, resulting in the stars in the strong team not getting enough rest time. For this reason, James emphasizes that "I have already said it", not to mention the feeling of not being premeditated. One obvious fact: The Lakers and Heat, who played in the Finals last year, are the two teams with the shortest breaks. They only have 2 months off.
But if you look closely at these injured stars, at least 5 of them are old sick, including Irving, Embiid, Thick Eyebrows, Conley, Leonard, all old glassmen. Nuggets' Murray is relatively unfamiliar to everyone, he is a return enthusiast with a similar mental attribute to "Yellow Mamba" Brandon Roy, the last big guy, Harden is one of the highest attendance iron men in the NBA in the last ten seasons, the motto is "I just like to play on the court", the graceful body hides the soul of a ball maniac, this year finally collapsed, it is difficult to say whether it is caused by perennial accumulation, of course, it may also be because the Nets' corporate culture is more special for him, colleagues take more leave, Your own task is relatively heavier.
The rest time is too short, for the old sick and elderly athletes are not friendly enough, but for most athletes who are still healthy, it is not a special problem to come once in a while, after all, the league was shut down for a short time during the epidemic last year, and there was almost 5 months of rest in the middle.
That's why league spokesman Mike Bass immediately replied to James with data: "The injury rate this season is almost the same as in the 2019-20 season, and the odds of starting players and All-Stars missing games due to injury are similar to the past three seasons." Although this "statistic" is somewhat counterintuitive to the audience and there is no need to doubt its authenticity, we also know that taking 10 breaks in the regular season sprained ankle and pulling off the Achilles tendon in the Finals may be statistically an injury truce, but the actual impact is completely different. Every year has a story of each year, and every champion should not wear an asterisk, but there are always some special years and some special injuries that make us feel heartfelt and think about something related to "if".
In 1977, 24-year-old third-year player Bill Wharton led the Trail Blazers to the championship. He played four series in the playoffs this year:
The first-round victory over 27-year-old Atis Gilmore's Bulls, Gilmore had 18.7 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2.7 blocks, Wharton 17.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 4.3 blocks;
In the second round of victory over the Nuggets of 28-year-old Dan Issell, Issell had 22 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks, and Walton 17.5 points, 13 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 3 blocks;
In the division finals, the Lakers beat the 29-year-old Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 30.3 points, 16 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.8 blocks per game, and Walton 19.3 points, 14.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1 steal and 2.3 blocks.
Gilmore, Issell and Abdul-Abdul-Jabbar are all Hall of Fame centers. In the final, Walton finally had no bull center in front of him, so his stats became 18.5 points, 19 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1 steal, 3.7 blocks, led the team to reverse Philadelphia, won the FMVP, and was praised by the opposite head coach as "the strongest inside line in basketball history". The times are indeed a bit old, and if you have to make a specific impression, a super defensive Jokic will probably be more appropriate.
Walton's performance in 1977-78 was even more crazy, he helped the team win 48 games in the first 58 games of the season, averaging 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, and his only regret was that he only played 58 games due to injury. But that didn't stop him from becoming the MVP of the season, becoming a double-team center. After the start of the 1978 playoffs, Wharton returned to the fireline, but left the field again injured in the second game.
After this campaign, Walton has never played for the Blazers, the Blazers have never won a championship, because of injuries, Walton is no longer the original Walton, when people talk about the strongest interior line in history, Walton is just a distant and unfamiliar name.
The backdrop to this tragedy may not be the reason: After the 1978 playoffs began, the Blazers doctor let Walton play in a closed court. After an X-ray after the second game, it was discovered that Wharton had fractured the scaphoid bone in his left ankle.
Trailblazer Team Doctor.
In 1989, the Lakers broke into the playoffs with two consecutive championships and won 57 victories against the West, and the playoffs were swept through all three rounds, but in the training before the Finals, The Lakers' previous game averaged nearly 20 points per game, and could not play because of a tendon strain, and in the second game, the Magicians broke their big jiri. The magician remained on the field after being injured and did not want to leave, but only angrily waved his fist into the air, because he knew his body and knew that there was no possibility of continuing.
It's all over for the 42-year-old "Skyhook" Abdul-Jabbar, who announced before the season that he would retire after the season. In the end, the Lakers were swept by the Pistons in the Finals, and the next time the MVP was swept in the series will not wait until 2021. At this time, the Lakers lost the possibility of three consecutive championships, and also lost the possibility of defining the 80s with 6 championships aside from Green Kai, and worse, the cake will definitely land head-on, and what happens next: the 90s are coming, Jordan is coming, AIDS is coming, and everything is over.
The backdrop to this tragedy may not be the reason: The Lakers won the playoffs so easily that coach Pat Riley decided to run a small training camp while waiting for his Opponents in the Finals to keep the players in shape.
Riley's bootcamp.
In the 2011-12 season, the Chicago Bulls won 50 to become the first in the East with a 75.8% win rate, which is basically a replica of their performance last year, the 2010-11 bulls also won the league with a 75.6% win rate of 62 wins, and third-year player Derrick Rose became the league's youngest MVP, but was surrounded by the Heat Big Three in the divisional finals. They made a comeback this year, facing nothing more than the Philadelphia 76ers led by Iguodala in the first round, which was not a problem. Their goal is still the Heat, or the Spurs in the West, to defend to win the championship.
It wasn't really a problem, the Bulls and the 76ers tentatively tried 2 minutes in the first game, leading the remaining 46 minutes and winning 20 points at most until the final 70 seconds of the game, when the Bulls still held a 12-point lead. At this time, the old and heavy Thibodeau waved a small hand, and Rose came on the court to ensure that nothing was lost.
However, there was a mistake in the end, Rose fell to the ground after landing in a contactless breakthrough, and got the news after the game: Rose's anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee was broken.
After this game, Rose is no longer the MVP Rose, and the Bulls, although they can still play the league's top record under Thibodeau, are no longer considered to be part of the championship group.
The background of this tragedy may not be the reason: this is a shrinkage season, the schedule even has back-to-back this kind of Taiwanese scolding street setting, Rose, who has truncated a total of 6 games in the first three years of his career, has been suspended 27 games due to injury in this short season, including the right foot, right ankle, groin, back, and toes. Everyone is playing with injuries, but the intensity of this year's schedule is difficult for players to get a complete recovery time.
Shrink season and Thibodeau.
In addition to this, we have some cases that seem to change the course of history, and we are equally willing to say some "ifs" for them.
The biggest "if" is of course the most recent 2019, if Durant and Klay are not injured, the Warriors will become the second team in the new century to win a triple crown, enough to meet all the dynastic definition of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the longer fantasy may be this: this wave of triple crowns is enough to cover up too many things, Durant will not leave, as for how long Durant and Curry can maintain their state, I think you have all seen what they look like this year after being injured, let alone the combination when they are healthy, in short, We may have missed one of the most horrific dynastic eras in contemporary basketball history.
Other injury-related "ifs" may not shine as brightly compared to them, but as parties or their fans, they may feel different. If Dirk didn't sprain his knee in 2003, if Joe Johnson didn't hurt his own eye in 2005, if Garnett didn't have a serious injury in 2009, if Perkins didn't break his right leg when he landed in 2010, if Beverley didn't rush to Westbrook in 2013, if Kevin Love didn't play WWE with Olynnick in 2015 and Owen didn't hurt his knee, if Paul didn't strain his thigh in 2018...
Injuries are such a rain and dew, never particularly bad for some people, and never take extra care of others. It's just that I've observed that there's always a peculiar group of sports fans in this world, who especially like to find motivation in injuries, as if an athlete's success without a little physical suffering is not enough to ignite the passion in their lives. Sometimes their praise for the return of athletes from major injuries is exaggerated to the point of being close to perversion, so it is not surprising that these people will question Liu Xiang after he retired from the competition in 2008.
And middle-aged men fans are most keen to talk about injuries on the sidelines to show glory, care about the player's injury to show the sports connotation and fighting spirit has always been a fan, if you ask the player's opinion, the answer will always be unified, can be healthy why to be injured. There is a passage about Yao Ming, asking Yao Ming what song he likes most in the United States, and Yao Ming replied: "The national anthem." It's best to listen to it 82 times a year. ”
Injuries are never a good thing, and no injury is more important or critical than another. If you suffer from a serious historical ranking disorder, you have to give a list of major injuries in the history of the NBA, my personal opinion is also very clear, the most important injuries in history are:
On December 24, 1996, David Robinson fractured his left foot.