Paul George and the folly of NBA stars playing for USA glory

[Mike G]

Found a video and had to look away.
Then I saw Derrick Rose looking on. Wishing he would go home.

[huevonkiller]

Best wishes to him, sorry to hear about it.

[Bobbofitos]

was a pretty brutal injury. hate seeing that stuff, unfortunately caught it live.

pretty sure the stanchion was 2 feet closer than nba regulation, which means that was very preventable. pretty sad.

that said, i hope this doesn't scare off US players from playing internationally. that injury really could have happened anywhere

[Mike G]

That injury would not have happened if he were home with his kids, or working out in the gym, or most other places in the world.
It happened playing competitive basketball.

[Bobbofitos]

That injury would not have happened if he were home with his kids, or working out in the gym, or most other places in the world.
It happened playing competitive basketball.

I think you're giving too much credit to that scrimmage by calling it "competitive".

[Mike G]

I guess PG was feeling competitive to want to block the shot.
At some point, it must become actual competition.
Would these games be better if anyone but the US had a chance to win?

[Bobbofitos]

I guess PG was feeling competitive to want to block the shot.
At some point, it must become actual competition.
Would these games be better if anyone but the US had a chance to win?

I was half joking about the competitive line - it was a glorified all star game, the fact Paul George tried that hard I suppose speaks to his character on the court. In any event, in that game I think no matter what the US was going to win

But really, Spain has a very legit chance to win the FIBA World Cup. Every other nation aside from them and us, not so much.

~~

These guys would be playing similar competitive pickup, this particular injury happened due to the stanchion (which likely would not present outdoors or whatnot) but still, injuries can happen anytime, fact this one happened on a national stage is upsetting but people shouldn't overreact to it.

[Mike G]

If I go on a beer run and die in a car crash, my chances of dying in a car crash went up several thousand times, to 100%
If I don't go on that beer run, my chances of dying in a car crash are still about 1/5000

You could get shot 'any time', but your odds are worse if you are in a gun battle.
You could fall off a horse any time, but it's highly unlikely if you're not on a horse.
etc.

[bondom343]

So wouldn't the arguement be he shouldn't play any basketball in the offseason? Same thing could happen in a pickup game.

[Mike G]

The rule of thumb should be that he shouldn't expose himself to unnecessary risks. College players do not get into pickup games. I think it violates the terms of their scholarships.
Making an exception -- and a very big one -- for competitive, sanctioned, USA-vs-world games, is very odd and questionable.

At best, players come back to their teams' preseason camp without the rest -- mental and physical -- that they probably should have gotten.
At worst -- this.

Now that 'worst case' has happened, I suppose there's a statistical study in it : Are NBA players more likely to be injured in an offseason with-vs-without sanctioned competitions?
Are NBA players more likely to have diminished capacities after foregoing an offseason of rest? More likely to be injured in the ensuing NBA season?
These questions apply not just to players from the USA, of course.

[PD123]

College players do not get into pickup games. I think it violates the terms of their scholarships.
Making an exception -- and a very big one -- for competitive, sanctioned, USA-vs-world games, is very odd and questionable.

Of course college players do get into pickup games-- let's not pretend like its unheard of for athletes to participate in activities that they might otherwise be contractually obligated to avoid (there are NBA players who play pick-up ball too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nUrPznMtSE, or http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/d ... rning-tip/)-- and, more importantly, play in sanctioned, non USA-vs-World games every summer (http://s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/files/bbce ... gues_M.pdf).

[Mike G]

I have played a lot of pickup ball in college towns.
After a player is done playing for the school, that's the only time I'd see him on the courts.

It's not necessarily a high level of competition that makes a game dangerous. Someone might think he can stop you by getting underfoot, just being a jerk. In basketball, anyone can hurt anyone.

Summer league is for players trying to be good, isn't it? Do already-great players participate?

[PD123]

I have played a lot of pickup ball in college towns.
After a player is done playing for the school, that's the only time I'd see him on the courts

A lot of my friends went to UNC, and their team seems to play pickup games with other students on a semi-regular basis. I wont pretend to know of other instances, but I doubt it's uncommon. A bunch of veteran NBA players do pickup games over the summer in places like Vegas and LA.

Summer league is for players trying to be good, isn't it? Do already-great players participate?

The NBA Summer League is for that, sure. These other things are just regular pro-am leagues that pop up all over the country; a lot of players from the mid-Atlantic region (e.g. Durant, Lawson, Oladipo) show up in a DC league some years, I know of a lot of Syracuse players that have played in a summer pro-am league in Central New York, there's the Drew League in Los Angeles (which, oh by the way, is where Paul George played this summer), etc.

[mystic]

pretty sure the stanchion was 2 feet closer than nba regulation, which means that was very preventable. pretty sad.

It was. And not just in terms of NBA regulation, but in FIBA games there is also much more space there.

And regarding injuries: Carlos Boozer couldn't play at full strength for the whole 2011 season, because before the season started he fall over a bag at his home and broke a bone in his hand ... just saying that injuries can easily happen basically everywhere. George had not just bad luck with the lack of space in that situation, but also his body got twisted in midair. The combination of both had him landed in such awkward situation. The "good" thing for him it looked like a clean broken leg, which usually gives a really, really good chance of a full recovery. Much worse happened to Nerlens Noel by tearing his ACL in a similar situation.

And Mike, if there is additional risk that should be covered by insurance. At least all international players have to get another insurance for their international play. It is well-known that Dirk Nowitzki paid the premium to play for Germany by mostly or a big chunk of it himself, because the DBB could afford to pay it. I suspect that the US players are also insured.

[kjb]

I think George's injury sucks, but I wouldn't want to do away with international competitions, which I think are fun for spectators and participants.

As for the college players not getting into pickup games -- that was definitely not the case where I went to school. I regularly played in pickup games with scholarship athletes from both the men's and women's teams. One year, I was dating a player on the women's team. Our Friday night dates consisted of playing pickup games with other members of the women's team.