Theory to a Championship (#2: Health)

In the previous posting of "Theory to a Championship," I wrote about the importance of a coach and how great coaches lead dynasties. Another very important part in winning championships is health. Many underestimate how important this factor is. Injuries often play the largest role in a team's destiny. Injuries are liabilities to a team and furthermore they are liabilities to the franchise.

Many teams make the decision to keep their players even after injuries, in hopes that they would return to where they were before, but most of the time this is not the case. A good 85-90% of players who have severe injuries never return to the type of player they were or were suppose to be.

Example #1- Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway



In his final year at Memphis State Penny Hardaway averaged 36.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.9 steals, and 2.8 blocks. Now to give you a better understanding of how amazing these stats are, here are Michael Jordan's average stats in his final year at North Carolina: 19.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.6 steals. Penny had the vision and mentality like a point guard, scoring ability of a great shooting guard and athleticism of a forward. He was projected to be one of best players to have ever played, but unfortunately this did not happen for he had an injury plagued career. Injuries held him and his teams back from achieving greatness. Not once was he able to win a ring and yet franchises continued to put their hopes and dreams on this injury plagued player.

Example #2- Grant Hill



Often considered one of the best all around players in the NBA, Grant Hill was slated to be a great player in the NBA. Not to take away what he has accomplished (seeing as he is a 7 time All-Star), but he is most notably known for having an injury plagued career. Hill has yet to lead or help a team win a championship. If Hill was able to be a 7 time All Star with all these injuries image what he could have accomplished if he never got injured...

Yes there are exceptions to this rule. Dwayne Wade has had an injury filled plagued career since entering the NBA, but destroyed all skepticism about his skills this past 2008-2009 season. He was arguable Top 3 players in the NBA this year (as mentioned in a previous article on Hoopchill). Although Wade proved his true abilities, he is an outlier.

Looking back on this previous season, who would have guess that the Rockets, Celtics, Spurs and Hornets would barely put up a fight in the playoffs. These four were definite Championship contenders coming out of the All-Star Break, but it took one key injury (for some teams multiple) to end in all hopes of that coveted ring.

Now I might be stating the obvious, but teams need to realize that players like Tracy McGrady and Gilbert Arenas are the modern day Penny Hardaways and Grant Hills. They are both amazing players but odds are they will only be a shadow of what they could have been. Franchises need to realize that in order to save the franchise (and furthermore revenue) they must trade these types of players while they have much value or else they will forever be paying a player who will never step on the court completely healthy.