New York Knicks: Jeff Hornacek, Kristaps Porzingis Must Proceed With Caution
The return of Kristaps Porzingis was a bright spot for the New York Knicks against the Washington Wizards, but Jeff Hornacek must proceed with caution.
Kristaps Porzingis made his long-awaited return to the New York Knicks on Thursday, January 19. After missing the previous five games with an achilles injury, Porzingis finished with 15 points and five rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting in 29 encouraging minutes.
According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, head coach Jeff Hornacek waited patiently to see an MRI before deciding whether or not it was time for Porzingis to return.
"“He’s been moving around pretty well,” Jeff Hornacek said. “I think it was just that last step of making sure there was nothing before we put him out there for the minutes.”"
Hornacek playing it safe with the franchise player offers a reason to breathe a sigh of relief.
I covered Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in 2011-12, and Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012-13. Unfortunately, I remember their injuries quite vividly—as well as what led up to them.
Everyone remembers when Rose tore his left ACL, just as they can clearly recall when Bryant tore his left achilles tendon.
What’s often overlooked, however, is what led up to those injuries and how the head coaches were partially to blame.
Prior to tearing his ACL in the playoffs, Rose missed 27 games during the 2011-12 regular season due to a litany of injuries. It began with a recurring toe injury in January and continued with a lower back injury in February.
Rose then suffered a groin injury that caused him to miss 12 games between March and April, sprained his right ankle on April 10, and suffered a foot injury mere days later.
One could easily surmise that the damage sustained during the lockout-shortened season ultimately resulted in his legs being weakened and his knees taking a vast majority of the damage.
It’s also worth noting that Rose and the Bulls were up by 12 points with 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter when he tore his ACL.
As for Bryant, he came down on Dahntay Jones’ foot and severely sprained his ankle on March 13, 2013. He then played 12 consecutive minutes the next time out before sitting for the next two games to rest and recover.
After just two games of rest for his severely sprained ankle, the 34-year-old proceeded to play at least 36 minutes in 11 consecutive games, including seven straight games with at least 41 minutes played, and five of seven with at least 45.
During the game he suffered the torn achilles tendon—less than one month after the severe ankle sprain he was still nursing—Bryant went down with a lower-leg injury on three different occasions.
Despite trainer Gary Vitti’s best efforts to check on Bryant, head coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t pull the 34-year-old from the game—not a single time.
After 45 consecutive minutes of injury-ridden play, the final blow was the torn achilles tendon.
Much like Tom Thibodeau could have taken better care of Rose, Mike D’Antoni could have done the same with Bryant.
Porzingis isn’t a 34-year-old shooting guard or a player who has suffered six injuries in a span of 66 games. He is, however, a 7’3″ power forward who covers more ground than the average big man and has been nursing a sore achilles tendon.
In order to avoid the same fate as Bryant or Rose, Porzingis will need coach Hornacek to continue to tune out the hungry fan base and proceed with caution.
Though no one likes to place blame for severe injuries, in two high-profile cases, the head coach could have done a better job of valuing player safety over team success.
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Competitors like Kristaps Porzingis will always want to play, but even in the midst of a 19-25 season, head coach Jeff Hornacek must have the strength to keep the rising star out when need be.
Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose are shining examples of why.