Why risk playing basketball?

There’s an odd mojo going on in the basketball world right now.  In college basketball, presumptive number one pick Zion Williamson is being urged to “shut it down” and not play anymore out of fear of aggravating the knee he sprained when his shoe exploded during a game.  Meanwhile, in the pros, the New Orleans Pelicans are being urged to not play their one star, Anthony Davis, for fear of him getting injured before they can grant his request for a trade to another team. 

Basketball players are apparently too important to risk having them play basketball.

I won’t even get into the question of whether Williamson should have to return his college scholarship money if he decides he doesn’t want to play for Duke anymore.  Nor will I ask if the Pelicans will have to pay Anthony Davis for NOT playing, or if Pelican season ticket holders should get a refund on the seats that they bought with the expectation of seeing one of the premier big men in the NBA ply his wares.  I think these are excellent questions, but they can wait.

Several notable people, such as Scottie Pippen, were urging Williamson to stop playing even before he tweaked his knee.  The idea was that he had already established his bona fides as a number one pick, so any additional time on a basketball court was too great of a risk to the millions he’ll presumably earn in the NBA.  What is there to be gained by his playing?

Well, there’s the ability to play alongside other talented ball players, a facility that would come in handy playing on most teams in the NBA (okay, maybe not the Knicks).  Basketball is still a team game, and you can’t perform at a high level unless you know how your teammates can help you, and how you can help them.  Practicing free throws in a gym will only get you so far.

There is the chance to learn from one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history, maybe one of the greatest in any sport.  If anyone knows how young players can improve their game, it’s Coach K.  He’s proven in his long career at Duke (and on the US Olympic team) that he can take talented young men and make them better.  I would think that would be of use to an NBA team considering its draft options.

There is the experience of learning how to win, and learning how to lose.  The experience of handling the pressure of the ACC tournament, and then NCAA March Madness.  The experience of interacting with the media, fans, and other players with a smile.  The ability, as Rudyard Kipling said, to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.  These are all things that can’t be learned in a gym by yourself.

The logic of the “shut it down” advocates is that Zion Williamson is too valuable to risk playing college basketball.  But if that’s true, he’s also too valuable to risk practicing; after all, that sneaker mishap could have happened in practice.  For that matter, when he’s in the NBA he’s probably too valuable to risk in regular season games; he should lie in bed for ten months then get up and join his team in the playoffs.

Except, of course, by then his muscles will have atrophied and he wouldn’t be able to hit a basket from two feet away.  Athletes have been injured in all sorts of odd ways, from walking their dog to doing the laundry.  For Zion Williamson to progress beyond his incredible physical skills he will need to practice, he will need to play with other players, he will need to risk injury.  There is no way for him to get better without risking injury.

This is different from college football players who choose to sit out a college bowl game.  Such games are usually meaningless, unless they are in the Championship Bowl system. Bowl games are now a dime a dozen and frequently feature teams at or around .500.  A guaranteed draft prospect can skip the Chips Ahoy Mango Bowl without losing out on a valuable learning experience.

Charles Barkley is right on this subject: people telling Zion Williamson to skip his one year in college because he might lose out on a valuable NBA contract (not to mention a shoe deal; Nike had better make it worth his while to endorse them given their product nearly racked up his knee) are missing the point of basketball, or of all sport.  The important thing in sports is the competition; the money is secondary. 

Of course, that’s easy for someone whose earned millions as a basketball player and analyst to say.