The hard part about covering all of the NBA is that you need to simultaneously keep up with 30 different teams.
In what marks his first season not coaching in 20 years, Doc Rivers is learning that the hard way.
Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Rivers discussed the Cleveland Cavaliers’ recent struggles. And in doing so, the NBA Finals-winning head coach pointed to the injury history of two of the team’s key players.
“They get injured a lot. [Darius] Garland misses a lot of games. [Evan] Mobley misses a lot of games,” Rivers said, before adding the cliché, “the number one ability is availability. You’ve gotta play more games, more healthy games, if you want to be a good basketball team.”
The only problem? While Garland’s injury track record is somewhat spotty — although hardly egregious — Mobley has been plenty durable through his first two-plus seasons in the NBA. After missing 13 games in his rookie season, the USC product missed just three games during the 2022-23 campaign and had played in the Cavs’ first 21 games of this season before missing the past three contests with a knee injury (he’ll miss his fourth on Thursday night vs. the Boston Celtics).
Doc Rivers said on the Bill Simmons podcast that Evan Mobley “misses a lot of games.”
Mobley played in 79/82 games last year. He played in the Cavs first 21 games this year before missing the past 3 with a minor knee injury.
What are we doing here, doc? pic.twitter.com/7pBxkDz8Rh
— Steve Franklin (@MyGuySteve) December 14, 2023
While one could certainly point to Mobley’s current injury as a reason for Cleveland’s recent struggles — the Cavs have gone 1-2 without him on the floor this season — there’s hardly any indication he’s injury prone, as Rivers implied. Considering he also played in all 33 games at USC during his lone season in college, his rookie season — in which he missed at least four games on three separate occasions — appears to be a clear outlier in regards to his health.
Is it possible that a more alarming trend could emerge this season or that his current injury, which has only been described as “knee soreness,” could wind up being worse than anticipated? Of course. But until that actually happens, it makes more sense to blame the 13-11 Cavs’ recent struggles on their roster composition or head coach J.B. Bickerstaff or even Mobley’s lack of development than it does to accuse a fairly durable player of an injury problem that hasn’t existed.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.