Andrew Charniga
www.sportivnypress.com
“How can you have a sport now where you have so much more technology; so much more resources; less contact and more injuries.” Because everything is rubber bands, everything is resistance resistance, everything is cable. There are teams now in the nba that don’t even have a weight room.” Tim Grover, Kobe’s trainer 2007 – 2012
What could Lebron James and Steve Kerr have in common; from the perspective of gamblers on sporting events such as NBA games and playoffs; with historical figure Typhoid Mary? Typhoid Mary was widely believed to effect the spread of the Typhoid bacterium; purportedly singled out as the source of multiple outbreaks of typhoid fever in the early 1900s.
In analogous fashion, the aforementioned two basketball aficionados have contributed to an assortment of aberrant injuries to super elite players; negatively impacting the title hopes Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and even the Brooklyn Nets; not to mention the outcome of the entire NBA playoffs; either by means of sharing/exploiting training regimes (LBJ) and/or through the activities of the assortment of the GSW professional staff entrusted by (SK) to care for the injured; and, the injured to be .
Professional Basketball’s Dilemma: A Confluence of the Clueless
Lebron James and Steve Kerr (NBA player and head coach respectively) have earned the dubious honor of professional basketball’s ‘Typhoid Marys’ for their respective contributions to the injuries sustained by various millionaires; who have either trained with (LBJ) or members of the Golden State Warriors professional basketball team whom have succumbed under the direction of the coach (SK) and support staff.
Previous essays have established a definitive link between the tsunami of injuries in professional sports, basketball inclusive; as a cause effect connection between the hands on activities of the incongruous amalgamation of professionals: conditioning coaches, personal trainers, doctors, therapists, academics, and so forth; by means of a consilience of induction (see Charniga, “Dropping Like Flies at a Barbecue”, www.sportivnypress.com)
For instance, the figures quoted below were released before the conclusion of the 2021 NBA playoffs; however, players continued falling by the wayside; to the dismay of gamers, fans and of course the players themselves; as the playoffs proceeded:
“The average number of players sidelined per game due to injury, non-COVID-19 illness or rest this season was 5.1 (includes both teams), according to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, the highest since he started tracking it in 2009-10. That does not include games missed by players in the health and safety protocols. The next highest season was 4.8, so 2020-21 was 5% higher.
“The increase was even more pronounced when focusing on the league’s stars. This season’s All-Stars missed 370 of a possible 1,944 games (19%), the highest percentage in a season in NBA history, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. They missed an average of 13.7 regular-season games each this year.”
Figures 1 – 3. Poignant examples of nonsensical exercise protocols pursued by professional basketball players which are, in effect, advertisements of efficacy to prepare elite athletes; in realty, exercises in buffoonery.
A.V. Chernyak, a Soviet era engineer turned weightlifting sport scientist devised a unique, objective method of determining the efficacy of the training of weightlifters; already in the 1960s. According to Chernyak’s methodology the weightlifter’s progress and ultimately the efficacy of the training could be assessed in terms of the athlete’s mechanical efficiency. The maximum height to which a weightlifter raised the barbell from the platform to lift it successfully was the primary indicator. A progressive regression, i.e., a lower maximum height of lifting should typically accompany the weightlifter’s rise in technical mastery; which is to say, the mechanical efficiency of the world’s strongest athletes is connected with performing less work against gravity; by means of high speed muscle relaxation.
By way of stark contrast, of the three exercises depicted in figures 1-3, especially the hip thruster exercise depicted in figure 3 is a case in point; a clueless approach to strength training for basketball. Why call it clueless? Because the athlete is depicted in his video is shown performing this exercise over a period of four years; with progressively more weight in each successive each year. The implication being that he becomes progressively stronger for basketball even though the mechanics of the exercise; let alone the isolated development of the hip muscles have virtually no specificity to performance on a basketball court; populated with quick, explosive, highly skilled elite athletes.
The stars of these spurious advertisements become de facto substantive influencers to coaches, trainers and especially those hoping to follow in their footsteps.
Professional Basketball’s Dilemma: A Cacophony of Typhoid Marys
So, messrs.James, the NBA’s head ‘influencer’ of conditioning and recovery methods and coach Kerr, you share the first ever “Typhoid Mary” award; and lest we dare hope, the last award of its kind; for crushing the hopes and dreams of the fans and the risk takers betting on professional sports.
Brittle Basketball Players & Bubble Wrap?
The fragility of some of the NBA’s main influencers is obvious from the sports writer’s venting in the quote below. The writer’s frustration is understandable given his job is to write about the exploits of the players from the top teams; he obviously is tired of writing about injuries and waiting for the return of sidelined stars. So, the urging to the NBA to turn loose the creative, the innovators, to develop player ‘bubble wrap’ to encase the injury challenged. Then the sports writers can get back to writing about players exploits on the court.
“At this point, the Lakers need to put Davis and LeBron James in bubble wrap until the playoffs — or the play-in tournament. Already without James, Dennis Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker, the Lakers were routed by the Clippers 118-94 at Staples Center.” https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id31381497/nba-playoff-watch-brooklyn-nets-danger-slipping-no-3-seed-east
Lebron blames Owners and Management for schedule
Just as the excuses for the cacophony of injuries in the NFL abound the NBA does not take a back seat. For instance:
“In response to James’ tweets, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement: “Injury rates were virtually the same this season as they were during the 2019-20 season while starter-level and All-Star players missed games due to injury at similar rates as the last three seasons. While injuries are an unfortunate reality of our game, we recognize the enormous sacrifices NBA players and teams have made to play through this pandemic.“ https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31646849/los-angeles-lakers-lebron-james-says-predicted-injuries-quick-turnaround-start-season
The above response to LBJ’s finger pointing contradicts his assertion the compressed season was the principle cause of the NBA’s 2020 – 2021 injury tsunami laden season. Of course missing in this argument is an explanation; unlikely forthcoming; for the heightened injury susceptibility of NBA players in the seasons leading up to this season (“Of Flat Tires & Brittle Basketball players”, Charniga, www.sportivnypress.com).
An announcement (quote below) the LA Lakers did not renew the contract of the head athletic trainer is indicative of several archetypicalities.
First, a fall guy (in this case a female) is one of the staff singled out for the “injury ravaged season”. A single person cannot shoulder the blame when players/influencers like LBJ pay for a personal trainers; likewise, other players on the same team and other teams are influenced by the silly make up exercises LBJ does for physical conditioning.
This step was taken without consideration whether the $1,000,000.00 LBJ spent on his personal training with a bizarre assortment of tractor tires, gas masks, balls, bands, machines, recovery tents and so forth; is part and parcel the problem of the “injury ravaged 2020 – 2021 season”. For reference, see “Of Flat Tires and Brittle Basketball Players”, www.sportivnypress.com; where messr. LBJ missed approximately a third of the season after sustaining a groin injury picking up a dropped ball; plus the growing commonality of Achilles injuries in professional basketball.
Figure 4. Super elite player (LBJ) working on recovery? No comment!!!
Second, how is it possible to single out one staff member; even though athletic trainers taping ankles is an disaster waiting to/must happen. When so many people are involved with the players: doctors, conditioning coaches, physical therapists and so forth; how can one person shoulder blame?
Third, the prevalent thinking that having and spending a lot of money equals brains; or at the very least, common sense; is of course, a delusion. It is much easier for people with a lot of money to throw it at a problem than actually seek a rational solution. The cases cited in previous essays and the examples of buffoonery; aptly shows throwing money at personal trainers is brainless.
Consider the following:
“The Los Angeles Lakers are in the market to hire a new head athletic trainer after injuries ravaged their 2020-21 season. Nina Hsieh, promoted to head trainer two years ago, did not have her contract renewed, sources told ESPN.”
“… the Lakers’ repeat bid fell short with a first-round exit to the Phoenix Suns, with Anthony Davis (groin), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (left knee) and Alex Caruso (ankle) all hampered in the series. This after a regular season in which LeBron James missed 26 of the Lakers’ final 30 games with a high right ankle sprain, Davis missed 36 games, and Los Angeles’ roster missed 201 games in total, according to Spotrac data.
It is the second time in the past three years the Lakers have parted ways with their head athletic trainer. Los Angeles let Marco Nunez go in April 2019 after three years at the helm after a season in which Lakers players lost 212 games because of injury. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31667425/los-angeles-lakers-renew-contract-head-trainer-following-injury-riddled-season-sources-say
About Fuzzy Faces, Baseball Caps & Sauerkraut
One indication the hiring of what seems an ever growing cadre of a exercise charlatans is the sense more is going on than meets the eye. Consider a former NBA head coach’s comments about doping in the NBA:
“I“m talking about performance-enhancing drugs—like steroids, human growth hormone, and so on. It’s obvious some of our players are doping. How are some guys getting older—yet thinner and fitter? How are they recovering from injuries so fast? Why the hell are they going to Germany in the off-season? I doubt it’s for the sauerkraut.” More likely it’s for the newest, hard-to-detect blood boosters and PEDs they have in Europe.” George Karl Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
Isn’t it odd that a professional basketball player appears for press conferences wearing a baseball cap, brim forward and drawn to almost cover the eyebrows? Are heavy beards and caps an attempt to mask use of HGH; which over time can affect the growth of facial bones; or, maybe it’s just the sauerkraut that makes the forehead bones continue grow; long after growth plates have closed?
References
/ Charniga, A., “Of Flat Tires and Brittle Basketball Players”, www.sportivnypress.com
/ Gandert, D., Ronisky F. “American Professional Sports is a Dopers Paradise: It’s Time We Make a Change”, North Dakota Law Review 86:4
/ Charniga, A., “Dropping like flies at a barbecue”, https://www.sportivnypress.com/2021/dropping-like-flies-at-a-barbecue/
/ Charniga, A., “Afterword to of flat tires and brittle basketball players”, https://www.sportivnypress.com/2020/afterword-to-of-flat-tires-brittle-basketball-players/
/ Charniga, A., “Muscles of the shank, movement of the shin & susceptibility to lower extremity injury” https://www.sportivnypress.com/2020/muscles-of-the-shank-movement-of-the-shin-susceptibility-to-lower-extremity-injury/
Hsieh worked for the franchise for more than a decade, beginning as the head athletic trainer in charge of the health and wellness program for the Lakers’ G League affiliate then working as an assistant trainer for the Lakers before taking over as head athletic trainer in August 2019.
However, the Lakers’ repeat bid fell short with a first-round exit to the Phoenix Suns, with Anthony Davis (groin), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (left knee) and Alex Caruso (ankle) all hampered in the series. This after a regular season in which LeBron James missed 26 of the Lakers’ final 30 games with a high right ankle sprain, Davis missed 36 games, and Los Angeles’ roster missed 201 games in total, according to Spotrac data.
It is the second time in the past three years the Lakers have parted ways with their head athletic trainer. Los Angeles let Marco Nunez go in April 2019 after three years at the helm after a season in which Lakers players lost 212 games because of injury.
Before Nunez, Gary Vitti served in the role for more than 30 years.
More changes are expected as the team is in the process of restructuring its approach to player health, sources told ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31667425/los-angeles-lakers-renew-contract-head-trainer-following-injury-riddled-season-sources-say
“… accept the crucial fact that what is picked up in the classroom stays loosely in the
classroom.” Nasim Taleb, Antifragile
About Fuzzy Faces, Baseball Caps & Sauerkraut?
“I“m talking about performance-enhancing drugs—like steroids, human growth hormone, and so on. It’s obvious some of our players are doping. How are some guys getting older—yet thinner and fitter? How are they recovering from injuries so fast? Why the hell are they going to Germany in the off-season? I doubt it’s for the sauerkraut.” More likely it’s for the newest, hard-to-detect blood boosters and PEDs they have in Europe.” George Karl Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
One Million+ Dollars Spend on Personal Trainer & Restoration Amidst a Multitude of Injuries
Figure. Super elite player LBJ working on recovery?
A reference to the recuperative effect of ice application was referenced in the text Tiiazhelaya Atletika (Weightlifting). It referred to a couple of American studies; the source idea of which was a reference from journals published after the second world war; documenting Nazi experiments on the effects of cold on the human body.
Davis said his right ankle, which he appeared to tweak, is fine but that his back locked up
Refernces
/ Charniga, A., “Of Flat Tires and Brittle Basketball Players”, www.sportivnypress.com
/ Charniga, A., “Of Ankle Breakers and Glassketball”, www.sportivnypress.com
/ Charniga, A., “Why Safe is Unsafe”, www.sportivnypress.com
/ Https://espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31592404/data-shows-nba-injuries-condensed-season
/ Rosen, M., “The effect of a cold abdominal spray upon a repeat performance in the 440 yard run”, Res. Quart., 1952:23:226
/ Happ, W.P., The effects of cold abdominal packs on recovery from fatigue”. Masters Thesis State University of Iowa 1947