The Point Guard Plague

This is the list of all-star point guard who are currently injured : Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Deron Williams, Eric Bledsoe and Jrue Holiday. 50% of them are down with a long-term knee injury. In Rose and Westbrook's case, it's the second time in two years. The universe is trying to tell us something here. The new generation of exciting, flamboyant and marketable point guards is flaming out before our eyes.

Larry Bird once told Bill Simmons : ''Once they stick that knife into you, you're never the same''. Basketball is a sport that doesn't forgive. If you're a milisecond slower than you were yesterday, you're losing value. You need to be faster, stronger and fiercer than everybody else on court. The displays of inhuman athleticism are part of the sport's interest and Grand Dooda David Stern has marketed basketball accordingly for the last three decades or so.

Knee injuries are the worst. They take away your leaping ability, your lateral quickness, affect your decision-making and they seem to be spreading like a medieval plague across the league's most exciting players. Why are all the exciting point guards falling like flies? I have a theory on this.

Historically speaking, attacking the rim with maniac explosivity has never been a self-sustaining career choice. Athletic leapers are putting enormous strain on their knees. If you analyze the game footage of Michael Jordan, you will find out two things 1) he always had mid-range and three point shots and 2) he gradually drifts away from the basket as his career progresses. Same thing for Kobe Bryant, who willed himself into becoming an elite shooter *.

Guys like D-Rose, Westbrook and Bledsoe are smaller than the two basketball legends. They have to push harder, jump higher and run faster to keep up with the always-more-athletic NBA. My point is : I don't think they can go on, having long and successful careers playing the way they do. Rose always struggled with his shot and found success when attacking the basket. Westbrook can shoot, but he often lets his competitive nature get the best of him and goes tot the rim high to make a point. Bledsoe's game relies so much on his athleticism, he'll have to unlearn certain things. Is there an alternative model for these guys?

Yes, there is. By design, the point guard is not supposed to carry the scoring load for his team. He is not supposed to be your best scorer or your main offensive threat. Chris Paul would've been the best example if he wasn't injured **. Paul has Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford. Damian Lillard has LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum. Historically speaking, Steve Nash had Amar'e Stoudemire. The quarterback is not supposed to rush at every play, isn't he? It's an emotional misconception to think a point guard should be your main offensive option. We all want to think that, but right now, point guards who are keep dropping like flies.

I love watching point guard soar and attack recklessly, but a team that relies on a point guard alone for championships is mismanaged. Right now, Tony Parker is playing the most cost-effective game at point guard. He can both shoot and attack the rim, but most times he shares the sugar or goes for an in-between, his patented floater. Parker can rely on his bigger teammates to finish in traffic and has a wide array of shooters to choose from on the perimeter.

The über-athletic point guard cannot wage war alone. It's a position that requires finesse, selflessness and chess-player thinking. Point guards who can mesh with an offense rather than assume the offense will have great careers. The others will just get injured over and over again. That is the reality of today's NBA.

* I know Kobe is injured right now, chalk this one up to irony.

** His injury, by the way, is the result of being fouled by Monta Ellis. Its doesn't have anything to do with accumulated strain. Shit happens when you play at full speed.