Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith suffered a potentially serious injury playing in his first game for his Chinese team, Zhejiang. Smith signed with Zhejiang when the NBA lockout was obviously going to cut into the NBA season.
The injury has the potential to be fairly severe, and this could raise questions facing some of the other players that are considering going overseas to play during the lockout. The potential for injury is always there, and Smith’s situation proves that.
This is something that current Los Angeles Lakers player must consider before agreeing to play in Europe or Asia during the NBA lockout. The biggest question mark has been guard Kobe Bryant, who has flirted with teams in Turkey and Italy during the work stoppage. Bryant is coming off an experimental knee procedure, and is anxious to see what he can do. But is Bryant willing to risk his NBA future by playing overseas now?
As a fan of the Lakers, what is your opinion on the topic? Would you like to see players go overseas during the lockout to work on their game but risk injuring themselves in the process? Or would you prefer to see the players stay in the United States and work on improving their game here?
