Rose and Injuries: A Hamfisted Thinkpiece

Derrick Rose came down wrong and sprained his ankle. He tried to play a few minutes before being shuttled off to the locker room under the pretense that he’s fine and we’re just erring on the side of caution. 

We use different registers of voice to talk about injuries in the NBA and injuries in the NFL. Neurological damage can happen, certainly, but it’s rare enough that—at least for now—it falls within the margin of acceptability for Wholesome American Sporting Contest Entertainment. Most of what we see is broken bones, torn ligaments, things that wouldn’t be devastating unless you live within the small group of people for whom those bones and ligaments make many millions of dollars. 

So there’s a broad range of responses. Players are sometimes called to “play through,” and praised when they do so, even if the long-term results are undesirable for both team and player. Isaiah Thomas’ game on a sprained ankle comes to mind.

“Why is he crying? My friend tore his ACL and played three more minutes of soccer before he realized what happened.” We hear suchlike on couches, at bars. “They have insurance,” even. We forget, I think that money plays only a partial role in the lives and motivations of these people. Most of them, from a very young age, have been groomed to play and promised hope through sports, and almost only sports. By high school that becomes one sport, and before too long that becomes a life. The game becomes about having a meaningful life, about crafting an immortal name, and about having the chance to truly express one's self. Not to give a byline, but to portray something that transcends language. To be the subject of a parable about hard work to younger generations, to be one of the enigmatic, untouchable myths people make careers out of failing to interpret. You can get paid and still lose something incalculable. 

We can debate if there’s something wrong in the way players are taught the game, or that they’re encouraged to play wrong. Doubtless, in some ways, that’s true. As in all else, we will continue to refine the ways to play and to teach. Maybe players cut too aggressively. Maybe we don’t really have a model for what happens when a man of Derrick Rose's or Russell Westbrook’s size moves in the way that they do. And even if these and others never find ways to reconcile their modes of playing the game with not being injured, their lives will continue. Again, thankfully, death and brain damage are not high on the basketball worry list. But it’s a genuine disappointment not to see them on the court. Hope everybody’s okay.

-David