The Monta Ellis saga is getting more interesting by the hour.
After the Warriors raised doubts about Ellis' ankle injury last week, the Contra Costa Times reported that the team had dispatched officials to Mississippi to examine Ellis' ankle. The suggestion was that Ellis hid the injury before signing a six-year, $66 million extension -- one of the biggest pay increases in NBA history.
Now, things look much worse than that. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports that Ellis has cuts and abrasions on his leg, an indication that the injury may have been non-basketball related. Medical experts say the injury -- a torn ligament on the inside of the ankle -- is rare in basketball. Most basketball sprains occur on the outside of the ankle.
Ellis underwent surgery last week and will miss 2-3 months. At issue is whether Ellis was injured due to contractually forbidden non-basketball activities, in which case Golden State technically would have the right to void his contract.
Even if Ellis' injury is determined to have been non-basketball related, voiding his contract would be an extreme and unlikely measure. More likely, Ellis would be subject to a team fine and/or suspension.
As with the NFL and Major League Baseball (and presumably hockey, but you'll have to check with Alan Hahn on that), NBA contracts forbid dangerous off-the-court activities like riding motorcycles or skiiing. You don't have to look beyond me for expertise in this area. I covered the sad story of promising Jets defensive back Jamie Henderson, whose career was ended by severe head injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash.
I'm doing my own reporting on this, so I'll be back when I have more facts.
UPDATED 8:21 p.m. This isn't going to be resolved until the weekend, at the earliest. The Warriors and Monta are in discussions about the injury and details surrounding it. I'm told that Monta will have a public statement when the discussions are complete. Stay tuned.
Comments (1)
It won't surprise me in the least if this was a non-basketball injury, and something forbidden in his contract.
These highly-paid, but young athletes need to get a reminder that with great money comes great responsibility -- sometimes agreeing to sacrifice things you like to do in order to make a living.
Skiing, for example. Even if a player is an avid skiier, they'll have the rest of their lives to ski. Make the smart move and honor the stipulations in the contract, and when it's up, buy a ski resort and ski all the time...
B