With Nurkic you're missing a year in which he played 79 games for the Blazers and was healthy all year, so it's 3 out of 4 years not 3 out of 3.
yeah, I knew that....I just hit 3 instead of 4 when I typed. Didn't proofread...but why would I when I'm so close to perfect...
so then 3 out of 4 seasons with an injury; however, that means he's only had 1 healthy season out of the last 5. All depends on how you parse it, but that's a worrisome perspective
The two injuries with the Blazers took place towards the end of the season. The last one was in a game he played heavy minutes. Maybe he should be on some sort of load management? It is concerning though but there are plenty of examples of players that either were injury prone their whole careers or who had some injuries early in their career but have been relatively healthy since. Injuries can be a fluky thing so it's difficult to speculate.
as far as 'load management'....maybe. But he hasn't had hamstring problems or plantar issues. He's had fractures....
and fragile bones on 7' players is a real thing, a structural problem. Walton & Bowie of course. Greg Oden. Brad Daugherty & Andrew Bynum. Ilgauskas had a long relatively healthy career after some early injury problems, but IIRC, it was only one injury and it was a broken foot he just couldn't heal for about 3 years. Might have that wrong though. There have been plenty of 7' players that stay healthy, but I can't recall any of them that have had so many issues over their first 5 seasons as Nurkic has. I may be forgetting some though, but as we know, exceptions don't really disprove the rule
AD's comparison to not making the playoffs was originally in comparison to KAT and his struggles to win in Minnesota. However, I think it is a valid question why Dame has made the playoffs 6 of his 7 years with a "crap roster" while AD and KAT have very little playoff appearances over that same time frame. That isn't a statement that Dame is better than those guys but it is a legit conversation that shouldn't be dismissed. It's fine if your stance is that bigs can't effect the game a guard or wing can in terms of winning.
Dame has had Aldridge, Matthews, Batum, Lopez, CJ, Nurkic, Aminu, Kanter as teammates. KAT has had Butler (for 59 games), Wiggins, Teague, & Rubio. And if you think Portland's injuries this year are a thing, you should tally up the missed games by KAT's teammates over his tenure there.
AD has had Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon for some seasons, but those guys were injury magnets themselves. Same for Ryan Anderson and he really wasn't that good. When AD got a healthy season from Jrue and Rondo, they made the playoffs and swept Portland. The Dame vs AD narrative didn't work out well for Dame in that direct confrontation, and Nurkic was healthy that year
