Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo were traded for each other on Draft Night 2008. This week, each hurt his hand while away from the office.
One afternoon in college, a teammate of mine showed up at practice with his arm in a sling. Coach delivered the news that he had slipped on an icy sidewalk. It would’ve made sense except that I already knew the real story, which involved no ice–perhaps save the cubes keeping his drinks cold on Saturday Night at the bar. A different teammate, at a different practice, was sidelined with “turf toe.” Again, this would’ve been plausible (I think? Can you get “turf toe” from playing basketball?) except that I watched him drunkenly kick a microwave down a flight of dorm stairs. (BREAKING: College kids do stupid things.) Well behind Coach’s back, we joked about his “microwave toe” injury.
With this background of experience, I sent Pat a short email a few days ago with a link from espn.com:
The possibilities for how O.J. seriously cut his hand in Europe are truly endless.
http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/8504251/oj-mayo-dallas-mavericks-due-cut-shooting-hand
He sent a brief reply:
Hehe, I can only imagine. Story would’ve been better had the accident occurred in AMSTERDAM.
I’m not trying to be a conspiracy theorist, I’m just using common sense based on my own life experiences. People don’t gash up their hands by (soberly) falling on stairs. Especially young, athletic people. It sure seemed like O.J. was up to some shenanigans, hurt himself, and was doing P.R. cover. No judgment, just calling it like I think I see it.
But no big deal. O.J. Mayo cut his hand. He’ll be back on the court in no time.
Then this afternoon on Twitter, there was this:
What?!
What does Woj mean, “In a workout?” He must have meant, “in practice with the team,” right?
Nope.
Even for the gullible, that sounds like bullshit. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and post Jerry Z’s next tweet:
So there’s an eyewitness. One who is employed by Kevin Love.
Ah, who knows. I’m sure we’ll get a more complete explanation after the dust settles. In the meantime, it just sucks that the most-promising season in the Post-Garnett Era will begin with the team’s two best players on the mend.
But it is kinda weird that the two California stars who swapped caps on Draft Night suffered mysterious hand injuries in the same week. I just wish our guy had the gash instead of the fracture. So it goes.
UPDATE: 24 hours later, an explanation is provided:
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
Hearing the word gash always makes me think of Jackass 2 and the mid shaft gash incedent. Classic.
Love’s and Mayo’s injuries are obviously INDEPENDENT of each other, but their timing is still an interesting coincidence. But your point – that each sounds fishy – stands. Obviously no one can say for sure how Love did or didn’t break his hand, and that means you can’t rule out that he broke it punching a wall in his condo – and probably not while doing P90X.
Are knuckle pushups a part of P90X?
Moving on…
Coming into last season, we knew Rubio was a great “pass first” player. But could he defend, make open shots, and cut down turnovers? The numbers were surprising: 21-20 record with Rubio and 5-20 during his injury that followed. I put Shved’s potential in Rubio’s class. He’s shown already that he’s a natural passer, can defend and make both perimeter and penetrating shots. Turnovers will always be a part of both Rubio’s and Shved’s game but the rewards are much greater than the risks. The point there is to avoid back court turnovers which are converted to easy layups. Get Shved in the starting lineup and keep him there. Like a good marriage, you don’t screw around. We are told that Shved is shy. All the more reason to build his confidence. He will reflect the confidence of his coach – much like Rubio. The muscles follow the brain. Be concerned less about forced shots and turnovers and allow Shved to play hard and with confidence. Shved could easily slide into a bench player mentality. I’ll be pissed at the coaches if that happens.
Dave, I agree about Shved. Now’s the time to develop him and let him exploit his mojo. I don’t like him alongside Roy because it’s almost too much of a good: two talented combo/leads who I’d rather pair with Luke and JJ, with Roy and Shved initiating the offense when they’re out there.
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