“The best ability is availability: Addresing asterisks in NBA Championship”
Let me welcome the 2021 NBA Finals by answering this question right ahead: “Is the NBA Championship defiled by injuries?”
The answer is NO. If you want to know my thoughts, stick around; if not, I’m going to save you the time and tell you that it’s the conclusion of this piece.
Let’s pinch a sample on this year’s NBA Finals’ contender: Phoenix Suns. I’ll take us going back in time, at 2004–2005 season, a season where it seemed like the stars were aligned for the Valley boys; 62 games won on the regular season, went from 29 wins from the previous season, making it one of the biggest turnaround in NBA history. Talking about their core piece brings me all the feels: Steve Nash was well on his way toward his MVP award, Amar’e Stoudemire with his statement performance of 26 points a night, elite marksman from behind the arc in Joe Johnson, and Shawn Marion, a gift that kept on giving if you’re playing Fantasy Basketball.
However, the winning constellations stopped on the season’s Western Conference Finals against San Antonio Spurs when Joe Johnson suffered an eye socket fracture that caused him 2 first games, and eventually lost in 5 games to the Spurs. Don’t even get me started with the infamous WCF 2007 when the Suns-Spurs saga continued: Nash had a nasty cut to the nose on Game 1 after an accidental headbutt with Tony Parker, took a Bowen knee to the groin, and finally, a hip check into the scorer’s table from Robert Horry. Those of you lot Valley gang who still hold grudges to Robert Horry, say “Aye”. And again, as we’re walking down the memory lane to the last time the Suns made it to the Playoffs (before 2021, ahem), Nash had his right eye cut open, got stitches, came back and played the remainder of the game with his eye swollen shut.
What about modern era “asterisks”? Let me see if I can summarize this right. OKC’s Russell Westbrook in 2013 Playoffs with torn lateral meniscus, AC malfunction that caused LeBron James severe leg cramping on 2014 Finals, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love injuries in 2015, Draymond Green’s suspension and Andrew Bogut injury in 2016 Finals, Kawhi Leonard’s injury in 2017 WCF, Chris Paul’s injury in 2018 WCF, Klay Thompson’s torn ACL and Kevin Durant’s Achilles injury in 2019 Finals, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic injuries in 2020 Finals.
Now you tell me, will you put, nay, slap asterisks on those titles? I don’t think so.
This season is a madness where at least 14 players in the postseason got injured. Playing in the midst of a massive pandemic, with its rigorous COVID-19 protocols, making players experienced sleep deprivation, less rest, in which translated to canceled practices and shootarounds. Most injuries that happens, at least in this postseason, is soft tissues injuries. It is a well-known fact that one of its most common culprits is fatigue and stress, and because of their lack of trainings due to a condensed season, their bodies can’t cope normally.
The fact that all of these players are injured, only underscores how difficult it is to make it through this. How it is an uphill battle to stay relevantly healthy. The challenges of the last two seasons may have been different from those of prior seasons, but the Los Angeles Lakers last year, and whoever wins this year met those challenges better than anyone else. There is no way I am among of those who discredit any accomplishments coming out of this. I might be biased on the point where I’m a longtime fan of the Finals contender this season, but I can guarantee you to the freshest of my memories that I didn’t take away anything from the Toronto Raptors when they won at 2019. I was a fan of Miami Heat since the Big Three era, and when 2020 Finals happened, I took no time to wait to congratulate the Lakers for their achievements.
The Phoenix Suns, when they got the Lakers without Anthony Davis, they defeated them. When they got the Nuggets without Jamal Murray, they swept them. They got the Clippers, both teams got their star players injured, the Suns still came out swinging. In comparison to the Utah Jazz when facing the Clippers, they got injuries too, they could not even beat them one time. Milwaukee Bucks, both got Giannis Antetokounmpo and the opposing team’s Trae Young injured, still came out as a winner. Not to mention when they devoured the Piladelphia 76ers with Joel Embiid ruled out because of his injury. They advance to the Finals, is a testament on the way they have played and the way they operate the organizations.
Every champion has experienced some sort of luck to some degree, some more than the others and injuries are inevitable. A championship ring is no more and no less than a representation of who is the best team, at the exact moment of time, with context and circumstances in play. And finally, availability is the best trait you can contribute to your team, among the others. To conclude, I’m going to quote Devin Booker on the Suns’ Finals presser just this morning, when being asked about them playing injured opponents:
“We’re not here to justify what we’re doing to anybody else.”
Carry on.
