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Should Nelson play?
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Former Saint Joseph’s Hawks star point guard and current Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson has been sidelined with an injured shoulder over the last few months. Despite Nelson going under the knife to repair his torn labrum, the Magic have been able to march all the way to the NBA Finals with new point guard Rafer Alston, who was brought into the Sunshine State from Houston in a trade back in the winter.
Now with the NBA Finals upon us, there is much talk about the possible return of the All-Star point guard to the court. Nelson has reportedly made good progress in his recovery from his shoulder surgery and he now has full range of motion in his shoulder and arms. With Alston playing well, Nelson would most likely return to the Orlando Magic in a reserve role and would take away playing time from veteran point guard Anthony Johnson.
During the season, the Chester High School grad scored averaged 27.5 points per game in the two wins against Orlando’s NBA Finals opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers. Nelson led the Magic in scoring in both games against the Lakers during the regular season, making him a big threat to Head Coach Phil Jackson and the rest of the Lakers squad. But obviously, Nelson won’t be the same player he was when he was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team so he won’t be able to put up 27-plus points in a game.
According to Nelson, he is ready and wants to play and he has been participating in full-court games and full contact drills. But still, general manager Otis Smith and Head Coach Stan Van Gundy still doubt that Nelson will be ready to play. Nelson stated that he is a competitor and he always wants to play and help the team win.
How effective will Nelson be if Smith and Van Gundy allow him to play? He won’t be the All-Star that he was earlier this year. But could he be a nice backup, and perhaps backcourt mate, of Rafer Alston’s? Anthony Johnson has done a nice job as the backup to Alston, but Nelson would definitely be an upgrade, even with his injury. Nelson can score and shoot from the outside and adds offensive threat to an already talented Magic team. This also gives Van Gundy some other options with the availability of Nelson. He can play Alston and Nelson or Nelson with Courtney Lee or Alston, Nelson and Lee together to make for an extremely fast lineup.
Another issue that comes up in this situation is whether or not this could affect Nelson’s career in the long term. What happens if Nelson plays in the NBA Finals and further hurts his shoulder causing permanent damage? Jameer is the point guard for many years to come for the Magic and the organization may not want to risk further injury. Also, Nelson could lose out on millions of dollars if he hurts himself in this series by potentially shortening his career.
All athletes know how hard it is to sit on the sidelines and watch your team play when you cannot. Over the last several weeks, Jameer Nelson has had to watch his Orlando Magic team win three series and become the Eastern Conference Champions. Now, he may have the opportunity to help his team an NBA Championship, an opportunity that may never come again for Nelson. So to say Nelson is antsy to play in this year’s NBA Finals against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers would be an understatement.
The Magic organization would surely like to have the Philadelphia college basketball star back in their lineup and the decision that Otis Smith must make is certainly a hard one. This writer would not want to switch places with Smith in this situation. If Nelson plays and the Magic lose, people will say he shouldn’t have played. If Nelson doesn’t play and the Magic lose, then the media will criticize Smith for not playing the All-Star guard.
But Smith cannot think about what will happen if he decides to activate Nelson or not. He needs to think about what is best for his team and what is best for Jameer Nelson. It’s an extremely tough decision and it will be interesting to see what happens leading up to game one of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
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