Wiseman’s knee injury takes some pressure off Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — You think you’re having a bad decade?
At least you’re not the Golden State Warriors, who just lost a 7-foot center, on top of all the other injury woes they’ve packed into the past two years.
James Wiseman likely will miss the rest of the season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. The rookie center went down during Saturday night’s win over the Houston Rockets at Chase Center, a fine young building which has to be wondering what it did to deserve all its bad luck since it opened.
Allow me, however, to propose the theory that Wiseman’s injury will turn out to be good for all concerned.
The injury will be a pressure-relief valve, giving coach Steve Kerr, general manager Bob Myers, the media, the fans, and Wiseman himself a break from the tension that has been building all season — really since the 2019 NBA Finals.
Just from a PR standpoint, this has been a challenging season for the Warriors. Without a clear signal of the team’s ultimate goal for this year and beyond, there has been widespread panic and debate in fandom about wasting a precious season of Stephen Curry’s prime.
The whole thing has been an awkward dance, as the Warriors tried to decide how to best utilize their prized rookie, the second overall pick. Should they throw him out there for 30 minutes every game, School of Hard Knocks, or bring him along slowly, allowing him not only to observe but also to learn that even a budding superstar must earn his minutes?
There are indications that within the Warriors’ leadership there was no consensus on this. The dynamic changed almost from game to game, as Wiseman alternately showed great promise and great cluelessness.
Kerr, it seemed, placed a high priority on winning. You can’t blame the guy. In his NBA career, Kerr picked up a victory addiction.
That’s a tough one from which to detox.
Now the thorny ongoing decision of how to handle Wiseman is off the table. The Warriors don’t have to decide how to balance winning with forming their lump of coal into a diamond. Kerr’s mission is simple now: Play the guys who give you the best chance to win on any given night and go for the playoffs, or the play-ins, or whatever.
Great, but what about the young man himself ? He’s been having a somewhat rough season, and now he’s knocked completely out of the action?
Well, the pressure has been building for him, too. He was thrown into a ridiculous situation, breaking into the NBA with almost zero playing experience beyond high school. Considering he had no NBA summer league or training camp, Wiseman may have been the rawest rookie in NBA history.
Ideally, Wiseman’s knee will heal in time for him to play in the summer league this year, or at least be ready for the start of a full
training camp. He needs a lot of work on some basic stuff, and that work is hard to accomplish during a season. Especially for a kid (he turned 20 last month) who is adjusting to life in the NBA, which can be a physical and emotional whirlwind.
It is possible that this injury will simply move forward six months or so all the complications with Wiseman’s indoctrination into the NBA. But more likely the time off will give him a chance to process everything that’s gone on in the past year.
Since high school, Wiseman has been under heavy pressure. His college career at Memphis was wrecked before it started by a bungled attempt by his coach to help Wiseman’s family, and the whole COVID-19 thing deprived him of a chance to learn to swim before being asked to anchor the Olympic 400-meter relay team.
At times, Wiseman admittedly has been emotionally overloaded, frustrated and confused. The time off will lend him some
breathing room — and perspective.
Meanwhile, the Warriors should figure out which of their witch doctors to fire. Somebody’s got to be responsible for the curse.
In the 2019 NBA Finals they lost Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.
But, hey, at least Durant might return! Nope.
Then Curry broke a hand at the start of last season and the Warriors were the worst team in the league.
But, hey, at least he’d be back for the 2020-21 season, and so will Klay! Nope.
But, hey, at least their sucky season earned them a high draft pick, and Klay will be back!
Yes on the draft pick, no on Klay.
Now, Hey, at least the Warriors have a clear mission the rest of this season, and a chance to blend Wiseman into the lineup and the league more organically, and Klay will be back!
Eventually, a silver lining has to be more than just a tease, right?