Buyer Beware: Introducing The 2010-2011 NBA All-Injury Prone Team

Alan Harrison · October 14, 2010

I think it’s time to amend Benjamin Franklin’s declaration that life contains certain unavoidable events: death, taxes and now, the fact that Yao Ming must miss at least half the season due to injury. Certain players seem intrinsically inclined to injury due to a variety of reasons. Body type, style of play, and even bad luck have all contributed to sapping some of the league’s best players of their talent.

History has been one of the best guides to forecasting which active players will have their careers cut short because of injury. Bill Walton serves as one of history’s leading examples. Over an injury riddled 12-year career, Walton appeared in less than half of his team’s games following his number one draft pick status in the 1974 NBA draft.

Unfortunately, Portland’s Greg Oden’s career has had some uncanny parallels to Walton’s. After missing all of the ’07-’08 season due to knee surgery, Oden was limited to only to 61 games the following season. Last year the seven-footer played in a meager 21 games before he blew out his knee pursuing a blocked shot. Even those who subscribe to the Benjamin Button theory that Oden will actually get younger with time can’t ignore the fact that he has been the victim of bad luck.

Oden played a full healthy season in his one year at Ohio State and was able to stay on the floor throughout his high school career. This gives hope that maybe the missed time is due to a rash of fluke incidents rather than a career-long trend similar to ones that have claimed the careers of Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, and “Pistol” Pete Maravich.

There might as well be skull and crossbones next to Tracy McGrady’s name ever since the uber-talented forward experienced a series of debilitating back injuries during the 2005 season.

The 30-year-old McGrady was nearly forced into retirement this summer until the Detroit Pistons took a chance on the former All-Star. Don’t expect to see McGrady get too much floor time this season as he will likely find himself buried in the depths of the Detroit depth chart behind Tayshaun Prince and Charlie Villanueva.

Injuries have curbed the once promising career of Yao Ming. The 7’6’’ center will be on a minutes limit for the season as head coach Rick Aldeman will instate a 25 minutes-per-game cap throughout the ’10-’11 year. Managing the seven-time All Star’s minutes will take a tremendous amount of control from Rocket’s general manager Daryl Morey who’s steadfast in his commitment in keeping Yao healthy. “It’s going to be hard for everybody,” Morey told NBA Sports in September. “We have talked in the past about trying to keep Yao’s minutes down over the course of the regular season, but this time it’s not a suggestion or a wish. It’s mandatory.”

Yao has been hampered by lingering foot injuries dating back to the beginning of his career with the Shanghai Sharks where he broke his foot twice before eventually making the jump to the NBA in 2002.

Yao missed a total of two games during his first three NBA seasons but each season since then he has eclipsed the 33 minute-per-game mark, he’s been hit hard with a litany of injuries ranging from a hairline foot fracture to osteomyelitis in the big toe of his left foot.

With a 25 minute cap, it’s reasonable to expect a healthy Yao to produce a stat line akin to his rookie season where the center averaged just over 13 PPG and eight rebounds per contest. This is encouraging to Rocket’s fans however considering Yao’s long injury history; don’t expect a minutes limit to be the panacea for the veteran center. With a bit of good luck paired with a few nights off we might be able to catch a glimpse of Yao come playoff time rather than in the familiar spot at the end of the bench in a cast and street clothes.

Like Yao Ming, fellow big man Andrew Bynum has been marred by a handful of injuries that have limited the young center’s development. It’s difficult to believe that Bynum will already be entering his sixth year in the league and the Lakers’ post anchor has had limited individual accomplishments to show during professional tenure. At only 23, Bynum has made steady improvement each year of his career. As a rookie Bynum averaged 1.6 PPG and improved his production each of the following years (7.8, 13.1, 14.3, 15.0) leading up to the beginning of this season.

Bynum is unlikely to take part in any preseason games this year following rehabilitation on his right knee. Once he returns expect him to ease into his role playing alongside Pau Gasol before picking up where he left off last season as one of the league’s most promising post players.

Many might fail to consider Indiana Pacer’s Danny Granger as an injury risk but he has faced a myriad of issues that have kept the forward off the floor in the last two seasons. Despite Granger’s status as an All Star, the 6’8’’ wingman has been hobbled with a torn plantar facia that has caused him to miss 35 games the past two seasons.

The cerebral Granger who declined a partial academic scholarship to Yale before ultimately graduating from New Mexico with a degree in civil engineering, figures to be one of the league’s most dominant scorers if he can stay on the floor. Head coach Jim O’Brien figures to again utilize Granger as Indiana’s primary scoring weapon as the Pacers will look to avoid missing the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.

Written exclusively by Conor Gereg. Conor is a lifelong sports fan who can tell you Shawn Kemp’s career field goal percentage or even Jeff Blauser’s home run total but fails to remember where he left his keys.

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, NBA, Injury, 2010-2011, Yao Ming, Houston Rockets, Bill Walton, Danny Granger, Indiana Pacers, Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Lakers, Tracy McGrady, Detroit Pistons, Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers, Conor Gereg, Fantasy Basketball, Draft