One frustration of being a social animal is sometimes finding yourself among communities you may not want to be a part of. This happens to just about everyone. I was in a frat for four years. That was certainly a choice. But whether it’s because of choices you’ve made, or the communities around you evolving, or the circumstances around you changing, you’re not always going to be surrounded by all the people you want for all the reasons you want.
Now, you may not know this, but Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals after starting off hot in the attempt to carry his underdog Indiana Pacers squad to the title. That sucked. You remember how much that sucked, right?
Like I was trying to say earlier, it super sucks for Tyrese. He could well have felt like the only person in the world as he was leaving the court. You might have the best support system in the world, the best teammates in the world, but when suddenly everything you’re focusing on gets ripped away in an instant — there’s going to be whiplash from the real world because the world you were living in, the rules you were living by no longer apply. You’re going to feel alone. It’s easy to isolate.
If Tyrese was ever in that mindset, he appears to be pulling himself out now. Scott Horner of the IndyStar wrote a story detailing the earliest stages of Tyrese’s recovery. He seems unhappy, but he doesn’t seem alone.
Tyrese mentions that Kevin Durant had actually come to visit him at his house. One can only imagine the perspective on the recovery, both physically and mentally, KD would be able to provide. The story stated “Durant’s perspective helped” but that he was tired of being known as “the Achilles guy.”
Unfortunately, he may no longer have to be. Plenty of people are developing their own empirical opinions and experience as we speak.
How many other bad communities are there in the NBA?
Well, all the injuries would probably have to have their own communities, I would guess. It’s hard to pick which one would be the most fun, but I think it might be the guys who have injuries to like an off arm or something. Don’t want it on the dominant side. Lower body seems terrible. Keep that in mind.
Non-shooters that can't scale to minutes might have their own group too. Just a group chat going back and forth between “I didn’t play enough” and “that was rough.” I could see that being a bit of a vicious cycle.
Remember Will Levis with the mayo? I think he put it in his coffee or whatever? You know some of the random white dudes in the NBA have some kind of food debauchery they’re concealing. Not that I think Levis ever tried to conceal his. I just think everyone else has learned.
Oh, here’s one! When NBA players get older, they tend to rag on modern day players and play styles. Coaches too. This group is very concerning because people keep ending up there. Over and over again.
Anyway, I’m hoping by calling attention to these things that if you ever become an NBA player you can do your best to avoid.