The Truth about Kneegate

HoopsAvenue — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:34:30 +0000

So all anybody is talking about after Game 1 of The Finals is whether or not Paul Pierce aka The Truth really hurt his knee as badly as his theatrics would lead you to believe. Ok, let’s see, guy goes down, needs about half the team to carry him off the court, rolls to the tunnel in a wheelchair, and he’s back in about a minute of gametime (knocking down 2 big 3s shortly later no less)? Any Laker fan would tell you he was faking it, but I’m going to have to disagree. He was merely exaggerating. First of all, watching the replay, it’s clear his leg moved a bit awkwardly after Kendrick Perkins landed on him. There’s no way to fake that in the heat of the moment. So the next question is whether he was really hurt by the play. I think he was, but not to the extent he led us to believe. Pierce might be a relatively smart player, but he’s no evil genius ready to concoct a fake injury plot in the split second he had to react to that play. He is, however, very capable of exaggerating the extent of his pain as all players are (just watch any player be in excruciating pain on defense only to look perfectly healthy when his team gets the ball back).

The thing is you can’t blame Pierce for exaggerating the extent of his injury. I would argue he wasn’t even conscious that he was exaggerating. It’s just what NBA players do. It’s almost like an extension of flopping. You don’t even realize you are doing it, but you become so accustomed to it that when you get hurt, you lie down, have everyone feel bad for you, and then sometimes it isn’t really that bad and you return as the hero. Saying Paul Pierce was exaggerating would be like saying Allen Iverson carries the ball on his crossover or Manu Ginobili flops. Duh.

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The Truth about Kneegate