If you’re a young, dominant point guard with a last name that begins with the letter “R,” please be careful.
ACL tears are some of the scariest, most devastating injuries for athletes and on Sunday we found out that Celtics’ point guard Rajon
Rondo suffered one in a loss to the Hawks on Friday night.
The news of Rondo’s injury comes after Derrick Rose and Ricky Rubio both tore their ACLs
in a similar fashion last year.
I was watching as Rose suffered the injury against the 76ers
on May 28 last year in the first round of the playoffs, and I, along with basketball fans all over the world, shed a tear for the fallen super star. It’s been exactly a year ago today, and Rose still isn’t playing.
Rubio suffered his ACL tear on March 10, 2012 and returned in December, but hasn’t quite been the same since. We also just saw the nation cringe as Robert Griffin III went down with an ACL tear of his own on Jan. 7 against Seattle in the NFL playoffs. It’s hard to watch, especially if you’re a fan of the player, because it leaves uncertainty as to if the athlete will ever be the same.
The announcement of Rondo’s ACL tear yesterday was especially devastating because of his importance to Boston. Immediately after news of the injury broke, calls to “blow up” the Celtics’ current roster and trade the stars began raining down.
After the game on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown,” Michael Wilbon
And he’s right; you can’t get over the loss of such an important player like Rondo. He leads the league in triple-doubles and accounts for 35 points a game if you include assists. He has the capability of putting the team on his back at any given moment and Boston relied on his youth.
Jalen
Rose took it a step further on the set of “NBA Countdown,” and said that the Celtics need to make big changes as a result of the injury to Rondo. “Your star player is the lead domino, the other 14 guys are put on the roster to supplement his strengths and weaknesses,” Rose said. “Now that he’s not in the lineup, the Celtics basically have to blow it up. And that means trading Kevin Garnett, and possibly trading Paul Pierce.”
An injury to one player just devastated an entire franchise. If the Celtics are going to make trades and blow up the current roster, Rondo’s injury will go down as one of the most catastrophic of all time.
His ACL tear will change the landscape of an entire franchise. It’s worse than Rose’s, Rubio’s, or even Robert Griffin III’s injury. Rondo’s in the prime of his career, on a veteran-heavy roster that many presumed was in its “last chance” mode.
As a sports fan, nothing is worse than seeing a great athlete go down with a long-term injury. My roommate is a Miami Heat fan and he was sad about the news, just for the pure competitive aspect of the NBA.
Kobe Bryant, one of the Celtics' biggest rivals, tweeted, “Gotta
give well wishes to Rondo. One of my fav
players in the world. My prayers r with u lil
bro. I'm here if u need me #respect.” Kevin Durant even went as far as to tweet that he wouldn't wish the injury on his worst enemy.
I don’t know if there’s a conspiracy brewing here, but three of the best point guards in the NBA have been sidelined due to ACL tears in the past year, and all of their last name’s begin with “R.”
Even Mant
Te’o
has to find that hard to accept.
jm296009@ohiu.edu
