The 76ers are the best.
Keith Pompey at the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the NBA fined the 76ers $3 million last year for failing to “fully disclose” stress fractures that Jrue Holiday had played through when the team traded him to the Pelicans in 2013.
Usually, teams lying about the basic condition of the players they’re trading away is a noble endeavor; if the other guys’ doctors don’t notice that they’re trading for a double-amputee, why (beyond league bylaws) should you be the one to tell them? Holiday’s case is somewhat of an exception, though, because the concern isn’t the immediacy of an injury, but the amassment of stress on his legs. It’s not hard to see how this might have affected his time in New Orleans:
Holiday’s first season in New Orleans ended prematurely. He had season-ending surgery in February 2014 for a stress fracture in his right tibia. The California native had been sidelined since early January that season because of the injury. Holiday averaged 14.3 points, 7.9 assists, and 1.6 steals in 34 games played.
He was sidelined 41 consecutive games last season with a stress reaction injury to his lower right leg. Then, after playing in back-to-back games, he was sidelined on April 13, again due to the stress reaction.
Pompey also reports that Philadelphia is now trying to get a similar financial return on their trade for Andrew Bynum, who never played a game for the Sixers.
[Inquirer]
Photo via AP