The OG situation is something to use as a cautionary tale. If you rush KP back and he gets hurt again or clearly can't go, then he might just be a lame duck out there or someone that goes back to the bench immediately. Anunoby clearly wasn't ready to play today. Hart looked like a shell of himself too. Kudos to them for trying to gut it out for a Game 7 though. With Porzingis, I think realistically, we should be looking at Game 4 the earliest, with Games 5 or 6 more realistic. If he had a chance to return earlier I don't think Woj would have already announced he's out the first two games of the series.
Naw. It’s not the same thing.
This was a Game 7. I don’t follow the Knicks, so I don’t know what was expected of OG, or what kind of treatment he got, or even the extent of his injury. Coming back so soon from a hamstring injury seemed unlikely and several posters here mentioned that they didn’t expect him back, yet he tried.
Why? When he was so obviously not healthy? Maybe because of Jarrett Allen? He didn’t play in the Cavaliers close out game. There was some speculation about whether he could play or not, and he didn’t. Since then there are stories from the Cav’s locker room that he could have played, but decided not to.
Rumors persisted "despite the whispers of frustration circulating in Cleveland surrounding Allen's apparent reluctance to take a pain-killing injection to address a rib injury that sidelined him for the Cavaliers' final eight playoff games," Stein reported.
Now there are trade rumors coming out. Numerous teams are reportedly interested in acquiring him if the Cavaliers want him gone.
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10121702-nba-trade-rumors-cavaliers-jarrett-allen-interests-numerous-rival-teams.amp.htmlMaybe OG thought he could tough it out? Or maybe he just wanted to avoid the fan drama and media speculation that Jarrett Allen has to deal with?
As for KP, it’s obvious that he’s not being rushed back and it’s not necessary for him to “try and play through the pain” except by maybe a small circle of “fans” that view that sort of display as necessary.