Anytime you have Mark Cuban saying I told you so you know you screwed up bad. Cuban has been telling David Stern for years that playing NBA players in the Olympics is a risky proposition that jeopardizes the owners investment. In the off chance a player gets hurt the team has no insurance policy. The owner could lose millions paid to a player that can't perform or millions in ticket revenue because the team underachieves. After the 2012 Olympics Cuban's words sound almost prophetic.
The Los Angeles Clippers had two members on the Olympic team and both of them got hurt. All star power forward Blake "The Barbarian" Griffin suffered a knee injury that may not be fully healed by the time training camp starts. The injury happened shortly after Griffin signed a 5 year $95,000,000 contract. Considering this is Griffin's 2nd knee surgery (The first one sidelined him for an entire season) and his game is predicated on his explosive jumping ability we can only hope he's the same player.
All star point guard Chris Paul tore a ligament in his thumb and will be out 8 weeks. Paul is considered one of the best point guards in the game and the main reason the Clippers made the playoffs last season. Without their floor general the Clippers are a mediocre bunch at best so having him at 100% is extremely important to their success or failure.
Anytime you lose two starters to injury (Much less two all star Olympians) there's cause for concern. Fortunately training camp is a few months away and both Griffin and Paul should return before the start of the season. That being said the injuries could have been much worse causing a scenario the NBA isn't prepared for. I'm not saying stop sending NBA players to the Olympics, but I question whether the risk is worth the reward. Your thoughts?
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