IS AD Playing Hurt Or Is He Actually Injured?

Is AD playing hurt or is he injured?
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Is Anthony Davis playing hurt or is he actually injured? That’s the big question right now. He has been on the injury report ever since game 2 of the season.

What was that first injury this season? It’s been a while, and I think a lot of people have forgotten. It was his knee.

This is somewhat alarming, because that’s what kept him out of last night’s game against the Thunder. I think maybe he’s been trying to push himself too hard to stay on the court this season. People have been openly questioning his durability for years, and I think maybe he’s trying to prove people wrong.

Playing Hurt is Part of Being an Athlete

Anyone who has ever been an athlete will tell you that playing hurt just comes with the territory. I’ve played hurt dozens of times myself, even in meaningless city league softball games. It’s a point of pride for those of us that love to play sports, but it can also be a bad decision for you and your team in some cases. There is a huge difference between playing hurt and playing injured.

It’s also a dangerous game to play hurt, because you can always do something to turn that hurt into an actual injury. Athletes have to learn to listen to their bodies, and know their limitations sometimes. It can be hard enough for us athletes that will never sniff a pro career. I would imagine it’s 1000 times harder when the press and the public are unsympathetic and questioning you’re every move.

There’s a Culture of Praise for Playing Hurt

The big knock on AD for years has been his availability. He has been injured a lot in his career. Things also got extra amplified for him in this regard last year.

When he got injured playing the Suns, in the playoffs, the Lakers were playing good and up 2 games to 1. A lot of Laker fans felt, and still feel, like the Lakers would have won if he hadn’t gotten hurt. When you add that pressure on to the pressure he was already putting on himself, it’s no wonder he’s pushing himself this year.

Fans love stories of player playing with injuries. There’s the old classic of Willis Reed coming down the tunnel just before Game 7 started. He scored the first two buckets for the Knicks, and it propelled them to victory over the Lakers.

Problem is they always leave out one detail when they retell that story. He really didn’t do much or play much more after hitting those two buckets. He was injured. The emotional lift he gave should be the focus of that story, not those first two buckets. But he was a hero to Knicks fans for doing that. I understand.

As a Laker fan we also have our moment of celebrating injury toughness. Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles and still got up and shot his free throws afterwards.

We love celebrating toughness like that.

AD Probably Needs Rest

After watching the game on Thursday night against the Grizzlies I was watching highlights on Twitter. The slandering of AD was out of hand. He did play a bad game. I won’t deny that. This play in particular stood out to me though.

He doesn’t just look hurt there. He looks injured to me. The next morning I woke up and tweeted this because it was still at the forefront of my mind.

Then as the day wore on it looked less and less likely he would play. He of course ended up sitting out. It’s probably a good thing and probably needs to happen for at least another game. You don’t want to mess around with knee injuries. I hope he does get some rest these next few games. He’s been giving it all he has so far, despite the slander, in my opinion.

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