How Injuries have Ruled the 2021 NBA Playoffs

(Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports)

Injuries happen all the time. Preseason, Regular Season, hell, Klay Thompson tore his achilles in a pick up game last summer. Every season, injuries play a part in who is left standing, but this year feels a bit different.

The possibility for an increased number of injuries this season is not old news. Many NBA players, including LeBron James, were vocal about the quick offseason causing strain of their bodies. Whether you like James or not, his sentiments have been the story of this year’s Playoffs.

(@KingJames)

Let’s take a look at the 4 remaining teams. The Atlanta Hawks have made a Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference Finals under Interim Head Coach Nate McMillan. They have remained injury free for much of the Playoffs apart from a their starting wing De’Andre Hunter suffering a torn meniscus in the First Round. But now, at the cusp of a Championship appearance, Trae Young has injured himself on the ref's foot?!?! Are you kidding me? Without Young the series is a wrap for Atlanta, and I’m very comfortable saying that.

The Bucks? They have skated along like nothings wrong. However, they have been assisted mightily by the injury bug. The Brooklyn Nets, the season long favorites to take home the Larry O’Brien, were severely short handed in their series with Milwaukee. The Nets were missing two All-NBA caliber players in Kyrie Irving and James Harden, and still took it to 7 games. I’m also pretty comfortable saying Brooklyn would’ve cruised to the Finals if their full roster was in tact.

(theathletic.com)

The West, as it is often described, is wild wild. The Suns have made their first Western Conference Finals appearance in over a decade. They have been a rock solid team throughout the season, but they've certainly been gifted a bit of an easier path than normal. The Suns first took down the Defending Champion Lakers in 6 games. It was the first time LeBron had lost in the First Round in his career, but to put the blame on his shoulders would be preposterous. James, along with their 2nd best player Anthony Davis, was severely hobbled throughout the series. LBJ didn’t look like himself after injuring his ankle earlier this year and Davis failed to finish the series after suffering an injury in Game 4.

(Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)

The Suns then went on to defeat the Denver Nuggets and this year’s MVP Nikola Jokic. While Jokic is a handful himself, the Nuggets were without their star point guard Jamal Murray for the entirety of the Playoffs. While I do think the Suns are the better team regardless, this allowed Phoenix to sweep the series. Now, with their toughest test ahead, the injury bug has struck again. Their Western Conference Finals opponents, the LA Clippers, have been without Superstar and 2x Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard after he suffered an injury in Game 1. With how close the WCF have been this year, Kawhi’s presence would’ve been massive in this series. The Clippers are currently down 3-2, but they have outscored the Suns throughout the 5 games. LA has literally scored more points than them and they're still losing. That's tough. Leonard’s shot making and defense in clutch situations would’ve almost surely resulted in a different outcome for LA.

(USA Today Sports)

So let’s look at this as a whole. Going into the season, and the Playoffs, we knew there would be injuries. There always is whether you have a 20 days to prepare or 20 weeks, but this year seems different. It feels like every round the end result has been greatly swayed by injury. The Lakers, Clippers, Nets, Jazz, Celtics, 76ers, and Mavericks have all had All-Stars miss time throughout these Playoffs. Injuries should play a part, but not this much.

So is it because of the short offseason? Honestly, it's situational. On one hand, Kawhi Leonard rested periodically throughout the entire season and got injured. On the other, LeBron James looked slower and more tired than normal coming off a Finals run in the Bubble last year. He was also forced to play more games due to the injury of his co-star AD. I believe there is nobody to blame here. Stars have a right to be mad about the offseason and the league has the right to make money. Injuries are always a bitch. This year, they have taken over the league.

But on the bright side, out of the last 4 teams, nobody has won the Title since 1974. So that’s kinda exciting.