I. Injury
There is no way to prevent 100 percent of the injuries in the NBA. If a player is doing what he needs to do, he will risk injury. Most injuries are bruises, strains, and scrapes. But there is always the risk of something more serious.
Right now, the frequency of serious injuries has reached its apex with the team. In both of the past two season, the Philadelphia 76ers have had to turn to the NBA for relief with an emergency “16th player”. A 16th player is approved on an NBA team when the team suffers injuries to five players. The fact that one-third of the team was injured simultaneously in the past two seasons.
That trend cannot sustain, can it?
Hope knee holds up
Well, here comes top pick Markelle Fultz, and yes he had a knee injury in college. In fact, it kept him out of six of the last eight games. That included a vital PAC-12 tournament to end the season. The cause? An ambiguous reference to a sore knee. A coach that talked in riddles about expectations and outcomes, and simply dug a hole under his star player as a result.
Let’s face the facts. The knee is a concern. No NBA team ignored the knee in the vetting process. Clearly, the outcome of constant scrutiny resulted in the “good to go” conclusion from virtually all medical professionals tapped in the evaluation.
But there is that pattern of injuries on the Philadelphia 76ers, right? So nothing is a certainty.