Basketball is a game of hustle and players go down with injuries all the time. Jump too high and your knees could give out, get in a struggle to steal the ball and your shoulder could pop out, don’t catch the ball properly and your fingers could start pointing in some other direction.
These NBA athletes got to learn the last lesson in the most painful ways possible. Check it out:
Michael Jordan
The Chicago Bulls star and arguably the best NBA player of all time, Michael Jordan went to war with some of the toughest dudes of the league back in the days of his prime. With nobody looking for “load management” back in the day, the struggle to win games consistently required him to play through several injuries and a hell lot of pain.
However, this creepy looking right index finger from the GOAT’s hand reportedly came from a ‘cigar cutting’ incident during the 1999 NBA lockout.
With a severed tendon, surgery was a must and the finger was never the same.
Jordan has time and again mentioned that his inability to bend the finger caused him a lot of trouble on the court during his days with the Washington Wizards and also on the golf course after his retirement from the league.
Kobe Bryant
If you are a Kobe Bryant fan (which I know you are), you would have noticed the late Los Angeles Lakers legend wearing a massive roll of bandage on his right index finger during the second half of his career.
Reports suggest that the five-time NBA Champion suffered from severe arthritis in the finger for many years and had to keep it under constant protection in order to keep his shooting arm safe (not that he couldn’t shoot with the left).
Manu Ginobili
The man of many wonders, Manu Ginobili was known to do seemingly impossible things on the court. Be it the era of the Manu with luscious long hair just euro-stepping his way to the ring or the time when he had barely any hair left on his head but still made game winning plays (hinting: that block on James Harden).
He was clearly the one with a warrior’s mentality and was tough as a rock and he had scars to prove it. In a tweet back in 2012, Ginobili showed a massive cut he had gotten after undergoing surgery to repair a broken fifth metacarpal in his left hand.
Even then you can’t get your eyes away from that crooked middle finger just looking in one direction while the rest of his hand points to the opposite side! That dream of hand modelling is definitely going down the drain.
Shawn Marion
Shawn Marion was the kind of guy you would hate as an opponent but would have loved to have by your side. His toughness and otherworldly athleticism made him earn the recognition as a four-time NBA All-Star.
However, Marion’s left pinky finger was as wicked as he jumpshot!
Lionel Hollins
Lionel Hollins is a one-time NBA champion, a one time NBA All-Star and a one time member of the All NBA Defensive First Team. And why he played in the league for only 10 years, his 31-year coaching career got him as much fame.
But the former Point Guard has some of the most gnarly-looking fingers on his left hand. Look at how awkwardly they bend from their joints in a way they should never. Just thinking about the kind of injury he must have had, sends a chill down my spine.
Yikes...
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