NBA Commissioner David Stern said the season-ending injuries to several marquee players, including Bulls G Derrick Rose and Magic C Dwight Howard, are not “related at all” to the lockout-shortened 66-game regular season this year. Stern appeared on ESPN Radio's "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" yesterday, and Cowherd asked him if he was "worried some players are saying it is." Stern: “When anything happens, that’s going to happen. But I was just reading something from a doctor who said that he just doesn’t believe." He added there is "no evidence that the wear-and-tear" was a factor in Rose's injury. Despite his stance, Stern said it is "still worthy of our study at season’s end to see how that just works out." Stern: "We want to find out if we can learn something from this, but basically, in most years we average about five ACLs. Prior to this year’s playoffs, we had three, from a schedule where we played two more games a month" ("The Herd with Colin Cowherd," ESPN Radio, 4/30). N.Y.-based surgeon Dr. David Altchek said that “too much playing could actually make a player less susceptible to the injuries” because they “might lack the type of explosiveness it takes to blow out a knee ligament.” He said, "In fact, I think if you're tired, you're a lot less likely to tear your ACL because you're not going to be as explosive" (AP, 4/29).
UNFORTUNATE TIMING OR CRAMMING TOO MUCH IN? ESPN CHICAGO's Michael Wilbon wrote under the header, "Rose A Casualty Of NBA's Schedule." Wilbon: "Derrick Rose was doomed the moment the owners and the players' union signed that agreement" (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 4/29). ESPN’s J.A. Adande said the lockout "comes into play here, even though medical experts are saying this was an injury that could have happened at anytime.” SB Nation's Bomani Jones said, "I agree that overall this year we’ve seen more injuries probably because of the compressed schedule." However, he added, "I’m not in a position to tell you whether or not this ACL tear on a non-contact injury was caused by the compressed schedule. I can tell you this: That leads me to believe that what happened to him was probably going to happen at some point.” Jones continued, “Yes, the schedule is compressed. Yes, that caused more injuries. But nobody really did anything wrong here.” ESPN's Jackie MacMullan said a torn ACL like what happened to Rose and Knicks F Iman Shumpert over the weekend “falls under the category of, ‘Well too many games, that’s what happens.'" MacMullan: "I do think there have been some injuries over time, chronic injuries, that have affected players over this compressed schedule” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 4/30).
FEELING THE HEAT: Nike basketball shoe designer Jason Petrie continued to get heat for his Twitter comments insinuating Rose, an adidas endorser, got hurt for wearing adidas shoes. Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s Mark Schanowski said, “I thought Petrie was a complete idiot. It’s almost like he was happy that Derrick Rose got hurt. That's something you should never be able to tolerate. He should be fired for putting that kind of thing out there." The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein: “It would be cool if they fired him, but instead they’ll probably give him a raise because for the few people out there who didn't realize what Derrick wore, now look at all the pub." Greenstein: "Nike’s getting a lot of good pub out of this” (“Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 4/30). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said he would fire Petrie for the "antagonistic" tweets “so fast his head would spin.” Kornheiser: "It’s stupid. It’s wrong on every level.” Meanwhile, ESPN's Wilbon said whoever wrote Nike’s official response “that didn’t even name Derrick Rose, wouldn’t even address him by name, that was classless” (“PTI,” ESPN, 4/30). Comcast SportsNet Chicago's Dave Kaplan said, “To not mention Derrick Rose because he wears adidas is as low-class a move. ... Why would you not say, ‘We wish Derrick a speedy recovery?’ ‘We wish anyone who is injured a speedy recovery?’ That’s moronic and idiocy because he wears adidas” ("Chicago Tribune Live," Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 4/30).
