veganfan21 wrote:
Probably over 70%+ of the players have multi million dollar contracts which amount to some measure of generational wealth. They all play. For claw to be correct all those players would basically fake injuries shortly after signing their deals. That's not happening. Most players are going all out. Ball is genuine. It hurts his brand to be sitting in street clothes. Ben Simmons on the other hand is a thief and a fraud (177.2M guaranteed contract; 37m this year to take 5 shots a game and avoid shooting free throws).
Not really what I meant, but let's take a look at the issue shall we? There is likely a substantial portion of the players that will take advantage of injuries by sitting out as long as they can before being pushed to return, you see this across the board in society, it's basic human nature for some to want to stay out as long as they can while some will come back a bit early and push themselves. When you factor in the Ball family...I guess you would call it life plan, which involves a parent that has voiced repeatedly that he sees this as a business endeavor where his kids are all cogs in the brand he has created, you can easily see that the primary goal was to get the kids into the NBA in the biggest market possible, wins and losses do not really matter, just get the brand out there and make as much money as possible.
That said, you are certainly dealing with an entirely different mindset with the Ball family. Franchise and team success does not matter, it is all about keeping the Ball name on a jersey somewhere for as long as you can.
If you know anything about pro sports, you will see guys making business decisions all the time, giving maybe a half effort, or sitting out until they are forced to make a decision.
There is of course the very real possibility that we have a Tarik Cohen type situation where the injury is far worse than the team/player are willing to admit and may in fact be career threatening, but then again there is absolutely no reason for the player who is getting guaranteed money to come back, in fact why not milk out another year before you reach an injury settlement? It would be stupid not to take advantage of the system.
Surprised you do not know this? Have you never encountered anyone that is on disability, but seems to be totally able to work? Guess you must have a limited sphere of experience?