And if diagnosing opponent's injuries isn't enough to push him to the top of the MVP list then the award is a sham...
The other night, Portland's Joel Przybilla broke his hand against the Spurs.
Play-by-play guy Mike Barrett has a little tale that's a nice reminder of how physically tough things can be in professional sports:
After the game I talked to Joel, who had his right hand heavily wrapped. He said he was on pain killers, and was very disappointed, as his goal was to play in all 82 games. He got to 77, and that streak now comes to an end.
He said the first one who told him the hand was broken wasn't a doctor, but was instead Tim Duncan. "Tim told me at the other end 'you broke you hand, man.'
I said 'how do you know that?'"
He said Duncan told him he was right behind the play and heard the hand break.
And if you're a sicko like me, and wonder what it looks like to hear a hand break (work with me on this one) you can watch that play in slow-motion here...
http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/recaps/recap08_1147_saspor.asx&video=blank&nbasite=nba
Video isn't so good...there is a brief (5 seconds?) shot of Pryzbilla jamming his hand into the rim.
