This article is part of our Charlie's NBAngle series.
The controversy surrounding Derrick Rose's recent statements is one of the dumbest in recent memory. Luckily, I'm here to clear things up.
To recap - here's the statement that got Rose into trouble:
I felt like I've been managing myself pretty good. I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out or whatever, but I think a lot of people don't understand that ... when I sit out it's not because of this year. I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball. Having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don't want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. [I'm] just learning and being smart.
What if he'd taken that same sentiment and phrased it just a little differently? Something like...
I've only played in ten games over the last two seasons. My knee is a mess. I sprained both ankles in the same game. So I'm going to take every reasonable precaution to stay healthy, because that's what makes sense for me as a basketball player and for my life beyond basketball. Don't expect me to play through every injury, the way guys like Luol Deng have in the past. Given my injury history, that would be really stupid.
Besides, the cautious approach sure works for the Spurs, doesn't it?
Then there's no controversy, right?
(Note to D-Rose... if you want to run your next public statement past me for a little massaging, just say the word. I'm here for you.)
That's not to say that the people criticizing Rose are being particularly reasonable anyway. Yes, we want professional athletes to go all-out on every play. We hate the notion of "mailing it in." We glamorize the idea of "playing through pain" and watch the clip of Willis Reed limping on to the court with absolute reverence. But we aren't owed that sort of sacrifice.
It isn't unreasonable for Rose to worry about whether or not he'll be able to walk pain-free when his career is over. And frankly, I'm glad that some of today's athletes are starting to consider what their post-playing days will be like when they make health decisions.
It's also more than fair to question whether or not Rose's past attempts to come back from injury quickly contributed to his subsequent injuries.
The other stupid thread of the week was started by Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams, who seems rather annoyed that tanking is such a big part of any discussion involving his team. I don't blame him. I'd be annoyed too. I've been known to rage-quit after a particularly inopportune pick-six in a game of Madden. But MCW goes off the rails when he complains about the media attention Philly's lottery-optimization program has generated.
There's one person to blame for all that, and that's Sam Hinkie.
Let's be clear - I have no problem with Hinkie's approach. He's operating within the rules of the game. He took a team that took a big gamble on Andrew Bynum, whiffed, and was destined to be awful anyway, and he has maximized their chances of rebuilding quickly with top lottery picks. And he's refreshingly shameless about it.
I don't know of a single person that has ever suggested that Philly's players or coaches are in on this. Brett Brown is trying to win games, as are Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel and Tony Wroten and the rest. They simply aren't as good as the teams they're facing on any given night.
That's on Hinkie, and that's by design.
On a related note... if you're going to post an article talking about how you and your teammates are competing every night, it would be good not to lose your next game by more than 50 points. Getting called out by your coach for not getting back on defense during said blowout also isn't a good look.
How bad was the Mavs' beat-down of Philly on Thursday? Dallas could have stopped scoring at halftime, and they still would have won.
Who's Chipping in for Pizza?
During the 2011 Lockout, a number of NBA bloggers took turns sending pizza to the reporters staking out the negotiations. After reading this week's remarks from new NBPA head Michele Roberts, I'm going to start taking pizza volunteers for 2017.
In an interview with Pablo Torre of ESPN, Roberts gave the distinct impression that she wants to re-open every labor negotiation since 1982, flatly rejecting concepts like the 50-50 owners/players revenue split, the salary cap, max salaries, the NBA draft age limit... and just about every other part of the collective bargaining agreement.
Based on that, the probability of a lockout after the 2016-17 season seems awfully close to one in one.
I'm hoping her statement was intended as a high-and-tight fastball, a message to Adam Silver that the NBPA will be much tougher in the next round of negotiations than it was under the laughably corrupt Billy Hunter.
This is not to say I disagree with her. I think the age limit is ridiculous and unfair, and I'm highly intrigued by the idea of eliminating max salaries, mostly because I think that would improve competitive balance. The salary cap I see as a necessary evil, only because the revenue disparity between teams like the Lakers and Knicks and teams like the Bucks and Spurs is absolutely massive. I just don't want to see an entire season - or any part of a season, really - sacrificed to fight those battles again.
Lane Violations
Like most observers of the NBA, I was willing to write off the Kings' swap of Isaiah Thomas for Darren Collison a major downgrade. Silly me. Collison has been outstanding to this point, producing excellent numbers across the board.
Problem is, this isn't the first time Collison has teased us with his considerable talent. He had a very good rookie campaign in 2009-10, stepping up when Chris Paul was sidelined. That caught the eye of the Indiana Pacers, who acquired Collison hoping to install him as their starter. He played two fairly inconsistent seasons for the Pacers before getting dumped on the Mavs in exchange for Ian Mahinmi. Last season he was with the Clippers, and once again looked pretty good when pressed into a larger role.
Has he turned a corner? Is he hitting his prime at age 27? Or is this the latest example of a guy who looks good-to-great for short stretches, only to have the wheels fall off when he's over-exposed? I'm skeptical enough to call Collison a prime "sell high" candidate at this point.
Incidentally, Thomas is thriving as the third guard in the Suns' point guard rotation. He and Gerald Green have been absolutely devastating.
Welcome back, Roy Hibbert. You too, Tyreke Evans. Iman Shumpert has been another pleasant surprise. At this point he's pretty clearly the third of New York's three-headed shooting guard rotation most worth owning.
But, hey... Lance Stephenson? Where you at, man?
