So, yeah. This happened.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in China as part of the NBA’s Global games schedule, a trip that’s proved dangerous to their roster’s well-being. Practices haven’t been particularly grueling, and outside of some jet lag and presumed trouble adjusting to the time difference, no reports of basketball-related injuries have been sent our way. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any casualties. Because there have.
Chris Kaman and Nick Young beefed it while tobogganing at the Great Wall of China, because of course they did. What else are they going to do in their spare time?
Kaman’s “injury” was reported first by the Los Angeles Times’ Mike Bresnahan, who writes that one of his fingers was “squashed” during his high-speed, sled-like excursion (h/t ProBasketballTalk):
His sled, essentially a wheeled cart with a brake, was rammed from behind by teammate Shawne Williams. Kaman instinctively put out his hand as he saw Williams careening toward him and, well, ouch.
Visitors to the Mutianyu portion of the wall take a gondola or cable car to the top of a hill where the wall is located. They can return the same way or take the toboggan down.
“I didn’t hit the brake the whole time. Guys on the edge were yelling ‘Slow down’ and I just kept going,” Kaman said. “All of a sudden I catch up to this guy close to the bottom, so now I have to brake. Shawne Williams comes behind me without hitting his brake at all and just smashed right into me.”
Williams was going 20-25 mph hour and Kaman was going only about 3 mph at the time of the collision, Kaman said.
“My hand smashed right between the two sleds. I didn’t feel the end of my finger for, like, an hour,” Kaman said, extending a bandaged, swollen middle finger. “It’s starting to throb a little right now.”
Well shoot, what a way to hurt yourself. This isn’t Kobe Bryant tearing his Achilles, Pau Gasol fighting a battle with plantar fasciitis or Steven Nash breaking down on account of, well, being old. This was Kaman flattening his hand. In China. On a toboggan. You can’t make this stuff up.
Personally, I can even respect it. Many fans or writers tend to get all hot and bothered when players injure themselves outside games or practice, like they’re not supposed to have a life outside of basketball. That in itself—that stubborn take—can be really annoying.
If a player shoots himself in the foot (ahem), then yeah, I get it. Or if they’re injured during an escort-themed yacht party, I get that too. Normally, we really can’t have any qualms about how they go down, especially if it’s not illegal. And this is certainly one of those times.
While tobogganing at warp speeds isn’t a necessity, it had to be done. That’s something no one would pass up. Admit it. Zooming down the Great Wall of China is suddenly on your bucket list. I’m on to you. So Kaman had to do it. He just had to. The price he paid doesn’t seem to be all that steep either, as he indicated his “injury” wouldn’t force him to miss any games.
We can even say the same for Young, who’s tobogganing adventure was captured by Jordan Farmar and, mercifully, put on Instagram for us to look at whenever we want.
Young can be heard screaming “We going down a slide! We going down a slide, y’all.”
Then, abruptly—”A slide! The Great Wall of—sh*t!” He seems to flip over or something, in what is no doubt one of the best Instagram videos ever. Watch it. You won’t regret it.
His “accident” also seems more hysterical than troublesome. Were he on course to miss some serious time or sustained any major injuries as a result, then concern would spring eternal. But he didn’t. So it shouldn’t.
This actually happened. Young and Kaman did their best Rocket Power, Super Beef impression.
Put that way, how can we do anything besides laugh? And, of course, learn from their mistakes. When I or you inevitably go tobogganing in China, we now know to wear a helmet, better utilize the breaks and never ever travel in front of Shawne Williams.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
