Sigh.<\/p>\n
Three games. That\u2019s all it took.<\/p>\n
Three measly games into the Orlando Magic\u2019s season, that\u2019s when already we started talking about MRIs, rehabilitation schedules and return-to-play protocols instead of victories and championship aspirations.<\/p>\n
Paolo Banchero? High ankle sprain. Out at least a month.<\/p>\n
Jalen Suggs? Bone bruise in his knee. Will be reevaluated in two weeks.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Isaac? Still sidelined \u2014 naturally.<\/p>\n
Noah Penda: Partially torn hamstring before the season even started.<\/p>\n
For a franchise seemingly haunted by injuries, this is becoming an exasperating annual ritual. Just when the Magic appear ready to take another step toward championship contention, somebody limps off the court.<\/p>\n
Sorry, but I refuse to buy into the popular theory that the Magic are simply cursed. Look around the NBA and you\u2019ll see it\u2019s not just the Magic. Oklahoma City\u2019s star Jalen Williams broke his leg and dislocated ankle a few nights ago and is out for the season. Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his ailing right knee and is out for up to two months. Utah Jazz star Jaren Jackson Jr. has a torn MCL in his right knee and will be reevaluated in six weeks. Detroit Pistons star Jalen Duren is out for at least two weeks with a hamstring issue. Toronto Raptors star Kawhi \u201cLoad Management\u201d Leonard is out (again) with a swollen right knee.<\/p>\n
I could go on and on.<\/p>\n
The frustrating part is that there\u2019s nobody we can blame for injuries.<\/p>\n
Unless you want to blame the modern NBA itself. I\u2019m talking about modern salaries, modern culture, modern science and modern analytics.<\/p>\n
Let me explain.<\/p>\n
Remember Willis Reed?<\/p>\n
Of course you do. Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Reed had previously torn a muscle in his thigh, received painkilling injections, famously limped onto the Madison Square Garden floor, hit two early jump shots and inspired the New York Knicks to a championship.<\/p>\n
One of the most legendary displays of toughness in sports history.<\/p>\n
Today?<\/p>\n
Are you kidding?<\/p>\n
Reed wouldn\u2019t have gotten within 50 feet of the scorer\u2019s table without an MRI, three medical clearances and a signed permission slip from the team\u2019s insurance company.<\/p>\n
Welcome to the NBA, where Willis Reed has been replaced by Willis Read-the-Medical-Report.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Modern salaries; Reed was making $65,000 in 1970 whereas modern-day franchises invest hundreds of millions in guaranteed contracts. Players aren\u2019t just athletes; they\u2019re financial assets. When you\u2019re protecting a $250 million investment, you\u2019re not taking unnecessary chances with a sprained ankle. You\u2019re wrapping that investment in bubble wrap and ordering another MRI.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Modern science: Today\u2019s players are bigger, stronger, faster and more explosive than ever. Strength coaches, nutritionists and sophisticated training programs have created extraordinary physical specimens. Combine that with the faster pace-and\u2013space style \u2014 in which players are running faster and further than ever before \u2014 and you\u2019ve got a torn tendon just waiting to happen.<\/p>\n
Any orthopaedic surgeon will tell you that you might be able to build up your strength, speed and stamina, but your tendons and ligaments remain structurally unchanged. Quite frankly, the human body wasn\u2019t built to handle the size and speed of today\u2019s athletes.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Modern culture: Once upon a time, playing hurt was a badge of honor. Sprained ankle? Tape it up. Bruised knee? Rub some spit on it. Muscle strain? If you can walk, you can play.
Such a mentality wasn\u2019t very smart and players undoubtedly sacrificed long-term health for short-term glory. But something has undeniably changed when yesterday\u2019s definition of toughness becomes today\u2019s definition of medical irresponsibility.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Modern analytics: Teams now track virtually everything: workloads, acceleration, fatigue, biomechanics and recovery patterns. They have mountains of data telling them when an athlete might be at increased risk. And perhaps that\u2019s the greatest irony of all.<\/p>\n
We have more medical knowledge, more sophisticated training and more injury-prevention technology than at any point in basketball history. Yet here we are two weeks into the season and the Magic and many other teams are already looking more like field hospitals than basketball teams.<\/p>\n
Willis Reed once limped onto the court to help win an NBA championship.<\/p>\n
Today, he\u2019d be sitting on the end of the bench in a $5,000 designer suit while an army of sports scientists calculated the precise date he could safely stand up.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve come a long way in sports medicine. I\u2019m just not sure we\u2019ve come as far in sports entertainment.<\/p>\n