Should we blame our medical staff for Shaq's injury?

[Drucci]

A lot of people are saying we should have expected Shaq to be injured a lot because he is 39, old and "fat". I agree that we should have expected some nagging injuries and some forced rest to keep him fresh.

However what I find hard to understand is how he went from playing 53 games for Cleveland last year, averaging 23 minutes and basically missing 2 months because of a thumb injury (which was totally unrelated to age), and playing 22 minutes for 11 games in the playoffs while being very productive, to missing almost half the season this year and re-injuring himself once he gets back?

My point is, it can't be attributed to age. It was silly to say last year "the team is done they are too old now" like the entire team had aged badly in one year. Sure, 39 is a really old age for an athlete, but I don't think there is such a gap between the 38 year old Shaq (who looked great in Cleveland) and the 39 year old Shaq (who apparently can't stay on the court). I just don't get the explanation that basically says Shaq has aged a lot in the course of one simple year (especially when he looked so good at the beginning of this season). What do you think?

[jdz101]

Can't really blame medical staff for tendons and soft tissue injuries man. They're so random, especially for a guy that size. Just bad luck.

It sounds like people in the media and shaq himself blew this one way out of proportion.

[Fan from VT]

Maybe he was a little unlucky this year and very lucky last year, making it seem like a big dropoff...

I mean, age doesn't guarantee you a certain number of injuries, but it still increases the likelihood of you getting injuries.
THis year that has happened.

[chambers]

I think it highlights just how heavily anti-celtics NBA fans want the Celtics to lose this year.
Like you said, he averaged over 23 mins a game and was out with a thumb injury.
Just as we saw him out there today for the six or so minutes he was- he was completely throwing himself around and not worried about any leg or foot problems. To me this indicates his injuries are minuscule at best and we are going to get a lot more out of him than expected.
I'd say he's been benched simply to avoid a serious injury because we need him badly in the playoffs.
Less worthless regular season games= less chance of injury= more chance of winning in the post season.

I really think he'll be back within a week or two and he will be just as good as he was at the start of the season and it will shock everyone.
The Celtics are smart. Lower expectations on Shaq, give more responsibility to our new guys like Murphy and Krstic whilst keeping the Celtics off everyones radar as a really dangerous team.

[clover]

Athletes across sports regularly report how injuries take longer to heal as they age.  I don't see how that might not have been the case for Shaq's thumb last year--though I of course don't know.

[Kuberski33]

When you get to be Shaq's age, the body just doesn't hold up anymore so you can literally decline very quickly. Doesn't help that Shaq's carrying as much weight as he is. 

This is the risk with all older players....

[pearljammer10]

Yeah I dont see anyway that you can blame the medical staff for this. The guy is 39 and has been in the league for how many years? He's old, he is going to get injured... This seems pretty minor anyway. As long as he can give us 15 minutes a game in the play offs its cool...


I dont really think you can ever blame any medical staff for any injury unless it is something involving rushing a player back from rehab, even then its hard to blame a medical staff.

[wahz]

Well we don't know enough about how Shaq is handling his rehab to know who to blame, even if it had been an achilles. But if reports are true that he had a cortisone injection and if his achilles had blown that is a slam dunk medical error.

The way Shaq reacted makes me wonder if they kept telling him he could have a rupture from the cortisone and then he felt something happen, he just freaked out, and I about had an stroke.

So the answer is of course no, if its not an achilles. But going back to big Al, and then how many minutes Ray played after his surgery, there really has been some stuff that has gone on that is making fans pull there hair out and wonder about the staff. Its largely because the news reports on the injuries are not square with what the injury really is.Its more like blame the celtics pr department for us not knowing what is going on

And Tony and Perk made great recoveries from severe knee injuries. 

[Roy H.]

I dont really think you can ever blame any medical staff for any injury unless it is something involving rushing a player back from rehab, even then its hard to blame a medical staff.

Is it fair to say that some staffs are better than others?  For instance, Phoenix is lauded for its training staff, who have generally kept their older players injury free.  Is that coincidence, or is there something to it?

I haven't been particularly enamored with the Celtics training staff over the past several years (dating back to when they insisted that Big Al was healed, despite him having bone chips, and to when they kept bringing Wally back too soon, only to have him inevitably get re-injured).  Maybe I'm being too hard on them, and should recognize that injuries are inevitable.  However, it seems like our guys struggle with re-injury more than other teams, and I wonder if there's anything to that (or, again, if it's coincidence and/or observation bias.)

[Tai]

if Shaq really can play Tuesday, the only I could blame them for is letting him play before he had a full practice with the team, even if he was working out privately.

[Marcus13]

No - he is a 40 year old man.

We should blame Danny Ainge for not using common sense

He didn't look great in Cleveland.  He looked good for an 11 game playoff stretch

[Kuberski33]

Is it fair to say that some staffs are better than others? 

I'd say it is.  Will always remember how the Celtics quietly dismissed their team doctor after Kevin McHale's foot injury in the playoffs that season.  They kept insisting he was OK to be playing and yet was never quite the same player again. 

I'm sure if Wyc & Co perceive that there's a problem, changes will be made. 

In Shaq's case though, none of this surprises me.  What does surprise me is that he's still playing at age 39.  I'd have thought his body would have broken down in his mid 30's given his weight and the # of minutes played during his career.
 

[ManUp]

No, Blame Shaq's career minutes and age. Remember your talking about the oldest player in the league who has been through several long play-off runs. It doesn't help that he's a 7 footer with poor conditioning.

[hpantazo]

No, Blame Shaq's career minutes and age. Remember your talking about the oldest player in the league who has been through several long play-off runs. It doesn't help that he's a 7 footer with poor conditioning.

All great points, I agree. Look at what improved conditioning has done for JO. He looks like a new man so far. If Shaq had half the will power to keep himself light and fit like Ray does, he would still be dominating the league now, even at age 40.

[Fafnir]

No, Blame Shaq's career minutes and age. Remember your talking about the oldest player in the league who has been through several long play-off runs. It doesn't help that he's a 7 footer with poor conditioning.

All great points, I agree. Look at what improved conditioning has done for JO. He looks like a new man so far. If Shaq had half the will power to keep himself light and fit like Ray does, he would still be dominating the league now, even at age 40.

I doubt that, age gets everyone.

Plus a big party of being able to keep yourself conditioned is your overall health/age. Shaq is older, and won't get the same results as Ray does.