It's good news from the perspective of Smart's potential, but this really makes me question the judgement of our medical staff and coaches. There was no reason that MS needed to be playing through injuries. We're talking about a huge part of this franchise's future - why not give him the time he needs to fully recover?
good points.
my guesses, and they are only guesses, is that perhaps the medical team saw that playing would NOT result in greater injury to the ankle, and, that rest after the season would be sufficient to heal it. therefore, let him play since it carries no long term consequences, but keeps him happy and helps him develop.
second, maybe smart hide the full extent of the injury from the medical staff, downplaying it. therefore the medical staff did not shut him down since they did not know the full extent of the injury.
then again, i could simply be pulling stuff out of my butt right now. maybe it did risk greater injury and maybe they should have shut him down.
[dang]ed if i know.