Last weekend’s Jamal Crawford CrawsOver Pro-Am game, which was stopped early due to unsafe court conditions, included a foot injury suffered by Oklahoma City rookie Chet Holmgren.
That injury turned out to be a Lisfranc fracture, which will cause the No. 2 overall pick from the first round of the 2022 NBA draft to miss his entire rookie season with the Thunder.
Other marquee NBA players taking part in that abbreviated game included LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Dejounte Murray, Paolo Banchero, and Tari Eason, a rookie forward with the Houston Rockets. Naturally, it’s not hard to envision scenarios where such an injury could have happened to one of the others, including Eason.
With that in mind, Brandon Scott — a producer with SportsRadio 610 in Houston — tweeted the following:
I know Tari Eason has been killing it on the pro-am circuit this summer. Loved to see it. Now, I respectfully would like for him to sit down somewhere. Want to watch him with the Rockets this year.
Eason saw Scott’s tweet, and he then responded:
Won’t be playing in no more pro-am games, but sit down, I cannot. Far from time to rest. You won’t never not catch me in the gym.
Won’t be playing in no more pro am games but sit down I cannot💯 Far from time to rest. You won’t never not catch me in the gym🫡 https://t.co/1vvwjo7yir
— Tari Eason (@TAR13ASON) August 25, 2022
Ultimately, it’s about reasonable risk mitigation, and that’s what Eason appears willing to do. Players want to be in basketball shape prior to training camp, since that’s when they try to earn minutes, and that’s especially the case when it comes to an NBA rookie.
Yet, there are a few extra risks taken on by playing at pro-am tournaments in varying environments and conditions.
Eason is too dedicated to his craft to rest, but in the aftermath of Holmgren’s injury, it appears that he’s done with pro-am tournaments — at least for the 2022 offseason. That’s a fair balance.
