What Steve Kerr should learn from Greg Oden and the Blazers

Greg Oden fractured his kneecap last night contesting a layup from Aaron Brooks. If you did not already know this, that rock you live under must be nice and cozy.

People, this injury could have been prevented. Everybody seems to forget that this is the same knee that had the bone chip last season. Instead of getting the surgery, the Trailblazers simply let him rest until the swelling went down. They rushed him. They didn't take the necessary steps to ensure their center's future.

Now they have to shoulder the burden.

Why Steve Kerr should care: Barbosa. His ankle should not be rushed, no matter how desperately we need him (and we do.) When you rush the recovery, the injury becomes aggravated, and then you take two steps back. Look at Manu Ginobili; he should have rested more last season, but instead of focusing on his recovery he hit the court. BAM! Stress fracture. If Barbosa is going to be on our roster, we need him healthy and we need him strong. The games he misses before he gets back out there are going to be fewer than the games he will miss if he aggravates the ankle.

Why Steve Kerr should ALREADY KNOW THIS: Stoudemire. He quit using the protective goggles after his torn iris healed last season. He said the goggles would fog up and limit his vision. In his defense, I would not want to play every game for the rest of my life wearing a pair of those. That would just flat piss me off. However, against his better judgment, he quit wearing them. The result? A partially torn retina. What would last season have been like if the Suns had forced Stoudemire to wear those goggles?

Sometimes things like that have to happen to appreciate how fragile health can be. The thing is, it has already happened. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself.