Last week the NBA world held their breath Stephen Curry, last year’s reigning MVP, headed to the locker room early in Game one of the Warriors‘ first round playoff matchup against the Rockets. Concerned fans and hopeful haters listened anxiously for the verdict. Was it sprained? Broken? Or was it simple tweak? Later that night the Warriors released the news that Curry had sprained his ankle and would miss Game two.
Social media went crazy talking about Curry and the Warriors, saying that they would not win the championship without him. Luckily for the Warriors, Curry was eventually able to return to the floor for Game four. It was not very long before Curry again was headed to the locker room early, but not for his ankle this time. Curry caught some bad luck and slipped on a wet spot in the middle of the floor, spraining his right knee. Fans again found themselves holding their breath for Curry but were quickly able to breathe again as MRI test results showed no torn ligaments or muscles. It has been released to the press that Curry will be out for at least another two weeks and then be reevaluated.
With the NBA community buzzing about Curry’s injury, it was only fitting that another all star point guard in the league would catch the injury plague. In Game four, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers suffered from a fracture in his third metacarpal on his right hand. It was quickly decided that he would not be able to return to the game, causing them to lose the game and the series to be tied 2-2. After the game, Coach Doc Rivers said that Paul’s hand did not look promising and that he would be reevaluated today.
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On the East there has also been a string of injuries. The Miami Heat especially have their fair share of injuries this season. With the Heat losing arguable their best player, Chris Bosh, early in the season for the second consecutive year due to blood clots, other players needed to step up. One of the players on the Heat who has picked up the slack was 7-foot center, Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside missed the past two practices for the Heat with a bruised thigh. Thankfully for him and his team, he was still able to suit up for game 4. Although he was able to play he could only grab 7 rebound and 8 points, and in the end the Heat fell short 89-85.
Injuries are a common part of any sport. You have to expect to get a little banged up every time you step out on that court or field. It is similar to driving a new car. When you get the car, it may be the coolest nicest one of all your friends so you automatically want to keep it that way. While you want to keep it in good condition, it is useless if it just sits in your garage being protected so you take the risk of taking it out in public for anyone or anything to damage the car. You have to accept the risk though because the reward of looking cool, is much greater than having this awesome car to yourself.
It might be a stretch but that is the way I see injuries in sports. Some are worse that others but you always have to be ready for the possibility of an injury because that player might be able to change the game for you. I think another important part of sports is being prepared for injuries. Since you know that they are inevitable, the coach should be trying to surround the best players with other good players that can step up in times of an injury. The Warriors have done an exceptional job of this by surrounding Curry with other young all stars and role players. The Heat on the other hand, do not have near as much depth as Golden State.
You can expect for the Warriors to continue to keep their games competitive and win the current series against the Rockets. As for the Heat, even though they have a less severe injury in Whiteside, they will be more effected by it due to lack of depth at the position. For the Clippers, they never make it past the second round of the playoffs anyway so the injury to Paul is just another bad thing that happened to them. Expect big changes in LA’s roster this summer if they lose the series, and this injury may be the cause of all of that.
To check out last week’s World of Sports, please read World of Sports: Warriors break record, Kobe shines in finale
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @Phillip11499 and via email: Phillip Christopher.
