FanPost

My Message to JoJo


Dear Joel,

Your youthful exuberance is a huge part of what makes you great, never lose that. We all know you feel frustrated, bored, and maybe a little bit scared by the endless speculation, doctors visits, and waiting that you are forced to endure right now. Please understand this... if you were a marginal talent, you'd be playing right now, but you are too valuable to risk to carelessness.

There is a huge temptation for everyone involved to allow you to play right now because we have all glimpsed your potential, and you feel no pain. The speculation is that, since you are not playing, there must be something seriously wrong and you will end up like others before you, limited in your ability to live up to your true potential.

Here is the difference..... short term you are the difference between 30 and 40 wins. but long term you are the difference between 50 and 60 wins and potential NBA championship. The entire city, like you, is anxious to see the process start to pay off and to see the team spoken about nationally as relevant. With your talents on the floor this year we may be as good as a team like the Boston Celtics, who will likely make the playoffs and excite their city before ultimately falling in the first or second round to a superior team.

Without your talents this year, we may likely be watching other teams lose in the playoffs instead of us. Ultimately though Lebron will probably be representing the East in the NBA finals again next year

Some historical context; Yao Ming was a supremely talented center who immediately made the Houston Rockets relevant in 2002. Once the team tasted success they were unwilling to display the patience needed to let Yao fully recuperate from a foot injury in 2005. They got him to the point where he felt good enough to play and got him back on the court ASAP. Of course his feet were not fully healed and his game suffered to the point where his immense talent became a shadow of its former self. Yao's legacy is tarnished by these injuries, not because they happened, but because they robbed him of his ability to change the game.

Let's not forget that it seems like you have had a bit of a growth spurt in the past year. His your body is not finished growing and some of these bone issues showing up on the scan could be a result of still growing not necessarily an injury. That doesn't mean though that your feet are ready for the relentless pounding of an 82 game schedule.

You are a supremely gifted athlete, which makes people both impatient and nervous. That is totally understandable, but if we are willing to wait for Saric for 3yrs why are we so freaked out about potentially having to wait another year for what could potentially be a generational talent?

My advice is, despite how you feel today, trust the scans, trust the doctors and trust the process.......

A user-created LB joint. The Liberty Ballers staff does not contribute to FanPosts.