IfAt1st
Starter
I think the most compelling part of that bizarrely-arranged article was the section on Lebron's head impact and why it wasn't subject to the concussion protocol:
His "answers" simply didn't address the observed injury, and deliberately ignored the 2 obvious problems the collision brought up:
1) The cameramen are WAY too close to the court, and don't need to be. All these lenses can zoom an absurd amount. They could be and should be off the floor by one row, at least.
1a) That cameraman caused the impact by not putting his camera down when Lebron was falling his way. This is an endemic problem caused by producers demanding the cameramen stay in the shot. Because of the NBA's need to "get the shot" (when there's tens and tens of cameras covering every part of the court), a metal protrusion was kept pointed at Lebrons head as he missiled into the back stanchion area.
I find this incredibly irresponsible, and the NBA (and Silver) is complicit in not discussing it.
2) They obviously didn't follow the concussion protocols, because if they did, Lebron would have been out the rest of that game, plus the next one (at the least), and that would have been the end of their precious drama enfolding on the court. The NBA would have lost a LOT of money if they had remotely followed the kind of overly-cautious approach to concussions they have demonstrated all this year (Curry, Klay, remember Rudy's lingering concussion?)
Silver tried to weasel his way out of the problem by saying "the player has to demonstrate observed symptoms in order to follow the concussion protocol."
Well, guess what? That's completely controllable by the NBA - all they have to do is have their medical staff say there's no observed symptoms, and they don't have to follow the protocol when it's inconvenient.
IIRC, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry and Lebron James all had significant blows to the head, and all three didn't demonstrate dizziness or unfocused eyes, etc. But only one of them didn't have any big medical response. That doesn't pass the sniff test. Only one of them actually had a direct head impact with a metal object. Klay was hit on the side of the head by a passing knee, and Curry hit his upper back, shoulder, and head on the floor. All of them should have received similar scrutiny but the NBA obviously didn't want the protocol to apply to cash-cow Lebron.
I think this instance is an absurdly-clear example of the NBA protecting profits over the players or their established rules. A conspiracy, if you will, to make money.
After listening to the Adam Silver response to Aldritch's direct question, I thought it was obvious they were covering it up.
His "answers" simply didn't address the observed injury, and deliberately ignored the 2 obvious problems the collision brought up:
1) The cameramen are WAY too close to the court, and don't need to be. All these lenses can zoom an absurd amount. They could be and should be off the floor by one row, at least.
1a) That cameraman caused the impact by not putting his camera down when Lebron was falling his way. This is an endemic problem caused by producers demanding the cameramen stay in the shot. Because of the NBA's need to "get the shot" (when there's tens and tens of cameras covering every part of the court), a metal protrusion was kept pointed at Lebrons head as he missiled into the back stanchion area.
I find this incredibly irresponsible, and the NBA (and Silver) is complicit in not discussing it.
2) They obviously didn't follow the concussion protocols, because if they did, Lebron would have been out the rest of that game, plus the next one (at the least), and that would have been the end of their precious drama enfolding on the court. The NBA would have lost a LOT of money if they had remotely followed the kind of overly-cautious approach to concussions they have demonstrated all this year (Curry, Klay, remember Rudy's lingering concussion?)
Silver tried to weasel his way out of the problem by saying "the player has to demonstrate observed symptoms in order to follow the concussion protocol."
Well, guess what? That's completely controllable by the NBA - all they have to do is have their medical staff say there's no observed symptoms, and they don't have to follow the protocol when it's inconvenient.
IIRC, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry and Lebron James all had significant blows to the head, and all three didn't demonstrate dizziness or unfocused eyes, etc. But only one of them didn't have any big medical response. That doesn't pass the sniff test. Only one of them actually had a direct head impact with a metal object. Klay was hit on the side of the head by a passing knee, and Curry hit his upper back, shoulder, and head on the floor. All of them should have received similar scrutiny but the NBA obviously didn't want the protocol to apply to cash-cow Lebron.
I think this instance is an absurdly-clear example of the NBA protecting profits over the players or their established rules. A conspiracy, if you will, to make money.
