re: ESPN reporting that Kobe has a torn Achilles

quote:

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quote: The sad thing is D'Antoni is going to take a lot of crap for this. For one thing, I'm guessing that Kobe didn't want to come out of games. For another NO ONE knows if playing a lot of minutes had ANYTHING to do with the injury. Dan Marino ruptured his Achilles while back peddling for a pass. Two of my buddies tore theirs while playing softball. Unfortunately, that's all we'll hear about from the talking heads over the next week.

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It's not just the massive minutes Kobe was playing during this stretch and this injury. It's not even the fact that Kobe went down twice tonight with an injury to both knees before the Achilles tear. It is D'Antoni's history of using players until their bodies break down: Amare and Lin.

Laker injuries this year: Pau Gasoline, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jamison, World Peace, Jordan Hill, Jodie Meeks, Earl Clark and now Kobe. I know injuries happen in sports but that an awful lot of injuries for one basketball team.

D'Antoni's style of play does fit a roster with the age of the lLakers. He also refused to use a deeper rotation when the have back to back games.