At this point in the NBA season, there isn’t a single player who is 100 percent healthy. Guys may be able to play every night, but they are dealing with some sort of nick or bruise that is giving them some discomfort when out on the court.
Managing that discomfort and playing through some level of pain is something that every athlete knows about. No one wants to sit out and miss time away from the court or field, as taking part in games is what makes all of the hard work and practice worthwhile.
Alas, some players have a higher pain tolerance than others. One of the players whose pain tolerance may not be as high as some people within the organization and fans would like to see is New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
Anunoby has dealt with a myriad of injuries throughout his NBA career. 74 games played in his rookie season is the most in a single campaign for him, as he has played under 50 twice. Thus far this season, he has played in 44 between the Toronto Raptors and Knicks.
How many more we will see him play in the regular season is anyone’s guess. After playing in 14 games with the Knicks, Anunoby was sidelined for 18 as he underwent surgery to have a loose fragment removed from his elbow.
He came back into the lineup last week against the Philadelphia 76ers, picking up right where he left off. Alas, that return lasted only three games before his elbow injury flared up again. The Knicks are going to be patient with him, but according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, playing through pain isn’t something Anunoby is comfortable with.
“According to people familiar with his tenure in Toronto — where Anunoby missed lots of time with injuries — the 26-year-old isn’t comfortable playing through pain,” Bondy wrote.
There could be several factors playing into the label Anunoby has received. Set to be a free agent this summer, he is in line for a massive contract. Playing through pain and potentially making an injury worse could potentially cost him millions of dollars on his next contract.
Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into a similar situation that occurred with Jeremy Lin. Lin, who injured his knee before entering free agency, did not want to play without being 100 percent healthy. In the eyes of some people, he put himself ahead of the Knicks, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in five games without him.
Lin was about 75-80 percent healthy, but he didn’t want to risk getting hurt worse ahead of free agency, where he signed a four-year, $28.8 million deal with the Houston Rockets. If the Knicks have any chance of making real noise in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, they will need Anunoby in the lineup.
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