Varejao, injury prone?

[TheOUTLAW]

I look at Varejao's game totals and he does appear to be injury prone. However, I really have no recollection of this. I know a couple years ago, he missed games until Christmas because of injuries, and last year he had the tendon injury, but other than that I have no thought of him being injured. However, his first 2 yrs he only played 48 and 54 games. How does this jibe with your memories of Varejao?

[Rise Against]

Well he did have 2 seasons where he played 81 games and one where he played 76. But when he is injured, he is seriously injured, causing him to miss over half or nearly an entire season. He can be injury prone, but definitely not to the extent of Grant Hill or Greg Oden.

[Kaner]

I don't think he was far along developmentally at that point to really be receiving regular minutes anyway. During 04-05 he only really missed 17 games from injury (6 games from Patellar tendonitis and 11 more from a sprained ankle.) The next year he missed 32 games from a dislocated shoulder. So while the tendonitis during his rookie season is somewhat worrisome, the bulk of those missed games are from DNPs, and injuries that aren't necessarily caused by someone being "prone" to those injuries, they can happen to anyone, especially the ankle sprain in a sport like basketball. His first shoulder dislocation was caused by someone accidentally elbowing him really hard in the wrong spot, and mismanagement of his current injury led to a seemingly smaller insignificant injury turning into a season ending one. In one article, I remember reading about a league source saying that he's not necessarily injury prone, but the combination of his reckless style of play, the fact that he's gone from defending the Pau Gasols and the Dirk Nowitzkis to the Dwights and Bynums of the league, and the poor management of his smaller injuries led to him being sidelined far more often than he should have. He's not like a Greg Oden that has needed multiple microfracture surgeries by the age of 21, although he's kind of an extreme example of being injury prone .

[gflem]

I believe that his style of play does lead to more of the bumps, bruises, and possibly sprained ankle type of injuries, but him being asked to guard the center position is more of the culprit in regard to his recent injuries. To his credit, he doesnt bitch about having to guard C's. I wonder if he were more capable as a scorer if he would be asked to guard the C position as much as he does.

[BossHoggin]

Varejao is injury prone if you ask the Trade board.

[TheOUTLAW]

Yeah, it seems that some think he's always injured, which is why I tossed this out there. I really don't think he's injured very often.

[BossHoggin]

He doesn't have one recurring injury like Oden/Roy. That is what I consider injury prone.

[Niko23]

Exile hit it. When he is injured, dude really gets INJURED. I always thought he was pretty reliable

[Icness]

He does always seem to be favoring some part of his body though even when he plays. Like, he'll exaggerate a limp up the court a few times or keep tugging at a finger or rubbing his neck. I think he's one of those guys that likes the attention of being hurt. But I don't think he is really injury-prone. Totally agree with glfem too about his style.

[mcfly1204]

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/09/anderson_varejaos_ankle_doing.html

Apparently Varejao's ankle is pain free and he has begun participating in drills as well as pick up games.