Injuries have been so prominent in the early part of this NBA
season, that even some prominent writers have been hit with nasty cases
of carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as the usual bruised egos that come
from accumulating mustard stains on our Pierre Cardin ties. Things are
tough all over. It’s throwin’ elbows time:
Nash’s nicks. Mike Brown is out, the Phil Jackson fury has subsided and the Lakers have Mike D’Antoni in place, with D’Antoni sitting at 1-0 in the Lakers phase of his career and the team back over .500. But not all is well in Lakerland just yet. That’s because one of the key drivers of the D’Antoni hire, point guard Steve Nash, remains in limbo with a minor injury that has morphed into a much bigger one.
Steve Nash's presence is a critical component for Mike D'Antoni's new offense with the Lakers. (AP Photo)
Nash didn’t lobby for D’Antoni to be hired, though he did give his
public thumbs-up. Rather, the Lakers front office saw the team’s
disjointed offense and decided it had better get a coach on the bench
who could get the team to play a style of up-tempo attack along the
lines of what the D’Antoni-Nash combination produced in Phoenix. The
decision came from the Buss family and general manager Mitch Kupchak.
But that decision was based on a healthy Nash, and that has been hard to come by thus far. Nash injured his fibula in the Lakers’ second game of the year, and though he was originally supposed to miss only a handful of games, he remains out indefinitely. He has developed a fracture in the bone.
D’Antoni has downplayed the significance of Nash’s injury, pointing out that he will need very little time to get acclimated to playing in the offense. “Whether it's tomorrow or next week or next month, we'll take our time and he'll eventually be there,” D’Antoni said. “And as soon as he gets there I know, give him an hour and a half and he'll have the offense down and running it like a clock.”
Maybe so. The Lakers have to have some relief that Nash’s injury is not related to the back problems that have plagued him in the past, or that it is not the kind of wear-and-tear injury that could linger long-term. But this injury does remind us that Nash is a player of a certain vintage, and that the Lakers took a gamble last summer by committing nearly $28 million to him over three years. Nash has been remarkably durable as he has aged, not missing more than eight games in the 11 seasons coming into this one. He has already missed nine games this year, though, and how he will hold up as he heads toward his 40s is worth monitoring.
No knee-d for regrets. There is good reason for the distress in Philadelphia over the current state of Andrew Bynum’s knees, and the looming possibility that Sixers fans will not see the star center in their uniform at all this season. But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that somehow the Lakers pulled a fast one over on the Sixers here.
In fact, the Sixers knew well—like anyone who has so much as checked in periodically on Bynum’s career—that Bynum has troubling knee history, and that his career could be cut short because of it. The reason the Sixers were willing to take on Bynum anyway was that he was in the final year of his contract, and they knew that if things did not work out, he would either leave in free agency or they could choose not to re-sign him. The real bonus was that the Sixers were getting out of the final year and $16 million that would have been owed to Andre Iguodala next season.
The Sixers wanted to turn the page on the so-so, bottom-rung playoff teams they’d had the last few years, and the way to do that was to hand the offense to guard Jrue Holiday and wing Evan Turner. Iguodala (and Lou Williams for that matter) were only going to stunt the growth of those two. Ideally, there would be a dominant big man in the middle, but if that doesn’t work out, so be it. Iguodala’s contract is in Denver, and the Sixers are not regretting anything.
Money for Mayo. It’s 12 games into the NBA season and, hey, maybe we’ve all been wrong about guard O.J. Mayo all along. He never really found a role with the Grizzlies, and didn’t exactly embrace being a sixth man for the team over the previous two years. The question has long been whether that was because Mayo was an overhyped player of average talent from the get-go, or if he was a victim of a team circumstance that buried his abilities.
He has been providing some answers in Dallas, particularly with Dirk Nowitzki out: 21.8 points, 49.4 percent shooting, 58.2 percent (yes, that is right) from the 3-point line, 4.4 free throws per game.
He won’t maintain those numbers, but if that start is at least some indication of the way this year will go for Mayo, he will be in for a big payday next July. Mayo signed what amounted to a prove-it contract with the Mavs last summer, signing for two years at $4 million per year, with a player option on the second year. It’s virtually guaranteed that he will opt out when the time comes—and that Dallas will have to shell out a big raise in order to keep him.
Nash’s nicks. Mike Brown is out, the Phil Jackson fury has subsided and the Lakers have Mike D’Antoni in place, with D’Antoni sitting at 1-0 in the Lakers phase of his career and the team back over .500. But not all is well in Lakerland just yet. That’s because one of the key drivers of the D’Antoni hire, point guard Steve Nash, remains in limbo with a minor injury that has morphed into a much bigger one.
Steve Nash's presence is a critical component for Mike D'Antoni's new offense with the Lakers. (AP Photo)But that decision was based on a healthy Nash, and that has been hard to come by thus far. Nash injured his fibula in the Lakers’ second game of the year, and though he was originally supposed to miss only a handful of games, he remains out indefinitely. He has developed a fracture in the bone.
D’Antoni has downplayed the significance of Nash’s injury, pointing out that he will need very little time to get acclimated to playing in the offense. “Whether it's tomorrow or next week or next month, we'll take our time and he'll eventually be there,” D’Antoni said. “And as soon as he gets there I know, give him an hour and a half and he'll have the offense down and running it like a clock.”
Maybe so. The Lakers have to have some relief that Nash’s injury is not related to the back problems that have plagued him in the past, or that it is not the kind of wear-and-tear injury that could linger long-term. But this injury does remind us that Nash is a player of a certain vintage, and that the Lakers took a gamble last summer by committing nearly $28 million to him over three years. Nash has been remarkably durable as he has aged, not missing more than eight games in the 11 seasons coming into this one. He has already missed nine games this year, though, and how he will hold up as he heads toward his 40s is worth monitoring.
No knee-d for regrets. There is good reason for the distress in Philadelphia over the current state of Andrew Bynum’s knees, and the looming possibility that Sixers fans will not see the star center in their uniform at all this season. But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that somehow the Lakers pulled a fast one over on the Sixers here.
In fact, the Sixers knew well—like anyone who has so much as checked in periodically on Bynum’s career—that Bynum has troubling knee history, and that his career could be cut short because of it. The reason the Sixers were willing to take on Bynum anyway was that he was in the final year of his contract, and they knew that if things did not work out, he would either leave in free agency or they could choose not to re-sign him. The real bonus was that the Sixers were getting out of the final year and $16 million that would have been owed to Andre Iguodala next season.
The Sixers wanted to turn the page on the so-so, bottom-rung playoff teams they’d had the last few years, and the way to do that was to hand the offense to guard Jrue Holiday and wing Evan Turner. Iguodala (and Lou Williams for that matter) were only going to stunt the growth of those two. Ideally, there would be a dominant big man in the middle, but if that doesn’t work out, so be it. Iguodala’s contract is in Denver, and the Sixers are not regretting anything.
Money for Mayo. It’s 12 games into the NBA season and, hey, maybe we’ve all been wrong about guard O.J. Mayo all along. He never really found a role with the Grizzlies, and didn’t exactly embrace being a sixth man for the team over the previous two years. The question has long been whether that was because Mayo was an overhyped player of average talent from the get-go, or if he was a victim of a team circumstance that buried his abilities.
He has been providing some answers in Dallas, particularly with Dirk Nowitzki out: 21.8 points, 49.4 percent shooting, 58.2 percent (yes, that is right) from the 3-point line, 4.4 free throws per game.
He won’t maintain those numbers, but if that start is at least some indication of the way this year will go for Mayo, he will be in for a big payday next July. Mayo signed what amounted to a prove-it contract with the Mavs last summer, signing for two years at $4 million per year, with a player option on the second year. It’s virtually guaranteed that he will opt out when the time comes—and that Dallas will have to shell out a big raise in order to keep him.
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