Too Many NBA Injuries

It is getting to be pretty discouraging, following the National Basketball Association playoffs this year. Before the the playoffs even began, some of the contending teams had lost key players due to injury.  The Chicago Bulls were missing star guard Derrick Rose for the whole season, and although the doctors have cleared him to play now, he refuses, believing that he his knee isn't completely healed yet.  Another Bulls standout, Joakim Noah, was also out but is gamely playing so far in the playoffs through his foot injury.  The Boston Celtics have had their own trouble with guard Rajon Rondo out with an injury.  Likewise is the case with the Los Angeles Lakers and their legendary Kobe Bryant, who tore his Achilles tendon near the close of the regular season.  Besides Bryant, Laker Steve Nash, although back in the active lineup, is obviously not at full strength after he had been out with an injury.  But wait...he's out again! The Golden State Warriors also find themselves in the playoffs without their star performer, David Lee.  Jeremy Lin of the Houston Rockets is out, although he's pushing to be able to play the next game. And now we come to Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that could have very well won the championship this year.  But not now, as he, too, is out with a season-ending injury, this one to his knee.  Although I had generally rooted against the Thunder, I was fascinated by their one-two offensive punch of Westbrook and Kevin Durant.  And now it's gone. Could they still win it all?  I suppose, but only if other teams lose their key players as well.

Last year, late one game early in the playoffs, Miami Heat's Lebron James, the backbone of the franchise, suddenly erupted in serious pain while grabbing one of his legs.  He hobbled out the court in the closing minutes, just long enough to pull his team to victory in a tight contest.  Afterward, to my relief, it turned out only to be a leg cramp.  But still, what if the something more serious happens to him, something like what happened to Bryant, Rondo, or Westbrook?

When I watch the NBA playoffs, I naturally want my team to win.  But I also want to see all the great stars playing at full strength.  It is very dismaying to me to see the prevalence of terrible injuries sideling these players.  To me, this seems to be an almost epidemic phenomenon.  Sure, players got injured in the past, but not like this. I wonder what's going on here...