Please understand that injured NBA superstars are human beings. Fans, coaches, sports media, and team executives are growing increasingly impatient with players who battle injuries. One must think for a moment why they were injured in the first place. They sacrificed their bodies on those brutal hardwood floors to generate wins for their teams.
Even though Hip-Hop culture has made it popular to employ the word “beast” in many contexts, including sports, no athlete is literally a beast—he or she is a human being with human limitations. When one is willing to suspend reality, this leads to thinking that fails to give athletes, especially injured NBA superstars, the empathy, patience, and compassion we typically offer non-athletes.
When your mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather suffer an injury, you don’t rush to throw them away. Rather, you show them the love, empathy, patience, and compassion their injuries merit. Learn to extend the same grace to all athletes at every level, including injured NBA superstars.
Injured NBA Superstars
In a recent article I penned for Total Apex Sports, “Superstar LaMelo Ball Trade Talk: Critical Response to The Athletic’s Tony Jones,” I had to put on my distinguished writing instructor and professor hats and offer Tony Jones, a staff writer at The Athletic, some important reminders about effective writing, research, and journalism, especially as it relates to injured professional athletes. Jones argued that the Charlotte Hornets should trade LaMelo Ball because of his struggles with injuries and build the team around rookie Brandon Miller. While the argument is egregiously unserious, especially considering Miller’s limited NBA experience, Jones’ argument lacks the empathy and patience an injured person deserves.
Tony Jones overlooked what the Charlotte Hornets would have to do with LaMelo Ball’s massive contract. Instead, his myopic thinking only considered Ball’s struggle with injuries. While NBA teams’ executive leadership should make decisions that make their teams as competitive as possible, making rash, knee-jerk decisions rooted in impatience is unwise.
One of the leading contemporary cultural theorists, Fredric Jameson, posits that the postmodern epoch is characterized by a “waning of affect.” By “waning of affect,” Jameson means a flattening of human emotion. Although we want all players to remain healthy, they will not always be healthy.
Lonzo Ball’s Recovery
The Chicago Bulls’ executive leaders seem to comprehend how to exercise patience with injured NBA superstars. These leaders have remained loyal, patient, and empathetic to Lonzo Ball, even as the Bulls have faced more injuries this season. Lonzo Ball’s serious knee injury has been well-documented, even leading many to think he will never recover from this injury.
I have contended that Lonzo Ball’s health should matter most to people. While Ball has been injured for two years, he has made tremendous progress and can now participate in advanced activities. By centering their focus on Ball’s recovery, including giving him the necessary time to heal, he’s making excellent progress to return to the court.
Parting Thoughts
In short, when we read articles about injured NBA superstars such as “Karl-Anthony Towns Out Indefinitely Knee Injury” and “Superstar Stephen Curry to Miss Time with an Injury,” our first thought should be purely about their health. Our first concern shouldn’t be about how long they will miss action and the implications of their injuries. Let’s value their humanity.
Injured NBA superstars are human beings—never forget that. If you genuinely believe they are, then think and act accordingly.
About The Author
Dr. Antonio Maurice Daniels is an accomplished scholar, writer, editor, columnist, journalist, and academic, including a writing instruction expert and researcher at Johns Hopkins University. He received his educational training at prestigious universities, including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Daniels has twenty-four years of experience as a writing instructor at every level of education and as a professional writer.
His sports journalism focuses primarily on the Arkansas Razorbacks, Wisconsin Badgers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, LaMelo Ball, Lonzo Ball, and LiAngelo Ball. To follow Dr. Daniels on X (formerly Twitter), click here. To read more of his online writing, click here.
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