Just chill a wee bit
You know what? Everybody’s just got to take a pill over this Garbo stuff.
I'm not that upset since I don't see Garbo as some sort of Raptors' saviour but I bet you I'm not going to like how Doug sees the situation.
He’s hurt, he has to have surgery and he could be back for the final few weeks of the season. He decided to play for Spain last summer – a decision I think is entirely justified, by the way – and his continued rehab since then didn’t go well.
Who are we to tell a guy he can’t play for his country? Who are we to know how his leg felt when he played? Rip him if you like but I can entirely understand a guy feeling no pain in his leg with medical clearance from doctors in his homeland deciding to go ahead and play.
Instead of asking ridiculous "Who are we?" questions, how about we look at the facts like a good reporter? (I will be taking the reporter role because Doug has passed on it for now.)
I would imagine that the Raptors, owing Garbo $8 million over this year and the next, felt pretty justified in telling him that he shouldn't be playing with a broken bone in his leg. When they went out and signed him, they reasonably expected that given the money they had agreed to pay him, his first loyalty would be to his NBA team and not to a team that is paying no money for his services and had already qualified for the Olympic qualifier next year. I will concede that it was understandable that Garbo wanted to play given that he is Spanish and the tourney was in Spain. That still doesn't make the decision to play on a broken bone the correct one.
As for the doctors in his homeland, I couldn't care less. First, it is entirely possible that they gave him the answer that he and the national team wanted to hear. Second, and much more importantly, if an x-ray shows a broken bone, your bone is broken. How hard is it to understand that? Was it really that difficult to see this entire situation coming?
The money? Unless it’s your money, who cares about the money?
Whenever a sports commentator uses this argument in reference to a league with a salary cap (number one offender, by the way, is Bob McCowan), I want to laugh at the lack of logic being used. I'll try and explain it simply. When there is a salary cap, that means that you cannot necessarily go out and sign another player if you threw away your money on a bad investment. Thus, even if I am not paying Garbo $4 million this year, I can still justifiably be upset because that $4 million cannot be paid to another basketball player who might provide more than Garbo's nothing.
The roster spot? With the salary slots they have available, they aren’t going to get anyone any better than anyone playing for them right now so that’s a moot point.
I'll concede this one to you, Doug.
Is Garbo ticked? Sure, he’s a basketball player who can’t play basketball. Are the Raptors ticked? Sure, one of their guys is hurt.
But let's be honest here. Garbo has only himself to blame. He was given solid medical advice to not play and have further surgery and he ignored it. Garbo built up a lot goodwill with Raptors' fans by being a rough and tough player who would do anything for his team if it helped lead to a win. I sincerely hope that he loses that goodwill as a result of his selfish decision.
Could they use him? Maybe. Maybe at 100 per cent he’s better than Rasho or Bosh or Bargnani, or Moon, Delfino or Kapono. Maybe.
It’s a crappy situation but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. The guy got hurt. That sucks. Deal with it and move on.
What a dishonest way to sum up the situation. Well done Doug.
No comments:
Post a Comment