How come theres many injuries in the NBA but not soccer ?

[Nuzzo]

Let's not even compare NBA to UEFA/FIFA....NBA is entirely disorganized and corrupted while UEFA/FIFA take care of business....

Step one: find a revolver
Step two: load it
Step three: shoot yourself in the head.

[Joseph17]

I didn't know that basketball had more injuries than soccer. I thought soccer had more.

[Joseph17]

ive read some time ago than basketball had the most sudden death situations of all sports, and the difference was massive
it has to be the most physically demanding, it was created by a physical education teacher, and those guys are the most evil people on earth on par with human trafickers and pedobear

How is that possible? I would expect football to have the most.

[Muzzleshot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VgZjzHRQlo

The one good thing I'll say about soccer is that at least a lot of little kids are playing it so they're getting some exercise.

I got a kick out of how people use to say 20 years ago that all the kids who were playing soccer would grow up and become soccer fans and make the sport popular in the United States. It never happened and it never will. The US has told the metric system and soccer to go to hell and that's just the way we like it. We're not learning something new and we're not watching something that's boring.

[Meatcookie]

http://www.livescience.com/health/060614_sport_injuries.html

That link is for U.S. injuries only.

I would say that Basketball is the highest because it is a sport that is one of the most versatile in the number of people playing. You can play 1 on 1, a game of 21 (3 players), 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc... 1 on 1 soccer would just be some drills and nothing competitive. Football 1 on 1 is called catch... same with baseball. How many people would you need to get a competitive game of soccer/football/baseball going? And when I say competitive I mean one that you could get an injury from.

There are basketball goals in many driveways. I think the increased number of casual players is what would boost the numbers for that link.

As for pro sports injuries... You play basketball on a hardwood floor. 10 players on a court much much smaller than a soccer field = lots of picks that can take you out. Rebounding with 1 or 2 other guys that also think they have the rebound can easily get you a sprained ankle. A speedy 6 foot guard beats his man to the hoop but you have a 7 foot center that doesn't allow uncontested layups and wants you to earn your points at the line.

[Meatcookie]

@DieselCeltic

Time for you to grow up my friend. Don't come in here and disrespect the best sports in the world.

"Don't come in here" ? You are in a basketball forum, or where you unaware of that?

SOCCER SUCKS

[Bernman]

Let's see statistics about how basketball players get injured at higher rate than soccer players, or this issue really isn't worth talking about. And the response that people notice more injuries in soccer, isn't valid either, because there are over twice as many players on a field, they play for almost twice as long, and if you follow soccer worldwide, I bet there are a lot more injuries mentioned because there's a massive amount more of relevant teams. There needs to be an objective study on the issue, weighing all those factors, because it's just a difficult propensity to measure with observation alone.

On the flopping issue: it's worse in basketball because it occurs on defense, as opposed to offense in soccer.

Usually, offensive players in soccer are embellishing in an attempt to get calls that they deserve. Contact could be significant enough to dislodge the ball, but not take a player down. If you don't go to ground, a referee won't usually call it. It's reinforced within the difficulty of fairly enforcing the rules of the sport.

Whereas in basketball, players like Nocioni and Varejao do it on defense because they know they're outclassed in a match-up. That's cheap gamesmanship.

Cheap gamesmanship happens occasionally in soccer too, but usually in the form of faking injuries, because they figure if the game will be prolonged they probably won't come out victorious.

And it's more of a cultural thing than being inherent among "pussy" soccer players. El Salvador had players laying on the ground for about a third of the second half against USA during their most recent WC qualifier. Argentinians and Brazilians are notorious for blatantly faking fouls and injuries. But I've never seen American soccer players resort to that tactic. I'm sure it's occurred, but I've watched a lot of yankee soccer, and it just isn't that prevalent.

Same thing in basketball. Even though Latin Americans make up a very minute minority of the NBA, they comprise a majority of the most notorious floppers in the game. Varejao, Nocioni, and Manu have to be in the top 5 on that list. I'm sure they, and many other basketball players, would be faking injuries if there was a running clock like in soccer. Hell, American football players are revered as among the toughest in sports, yet how many guys have tried to delay the game by laying on the football and slowly getting up to preserve a victory? They've had to create rules to deter it like clock run-offs, loss of TO's, etc. And you can only waste 40 seconds max of time anyways doing it, and the refs would stop the clock well before that occurred. Faking injuries would be very prevalent if all those deterrences weren't in place. Toughness has nothing to do with it. It's desire to win by any means necessary.

[Cro_Ruption]

i have to agree with this guy, soccer is very physical, we Americans dont understand how it is and how intense it is especially the fans, The best fans in the world are european fans and college fans in the states, always standing up, no sittin down,, chanting and singing, i love it. Oh and portland trialblazer fans are best oo

[Turkleton]

say whaat?


soccer players actually deal with injuries more often than basketball players. other than goalkeepers, it is very rare for soccer players to play in all 40-50 games of the season(suspensions excluded) while there were around 30 players in NBA that played in all 82 games.

Did Eduardo recover from that nasty injury..

He died unfortunately
tbh I wish my team (Man Utd) could send Owen Hargreaves to the Phoenix Suns medical staff, they seem to work wonders.

[Joana]

I don't follow soccer closely, but I live in a soccer country (and continent) and I have exactly the opposite idea that the one expressed in the OP: injuries in soccer are way more common than in the NBA, in spite of a much lighter schedule. It makes sense, there's much more contact and physicality in soccer.

[USA]

^I think there is much more contact in the NBA then there is in soccer. The difference is most of the contact in the NBA is by one's hands and in soccer is by one's

[MeestR]

previous post makes sense. but i was gonna say maybe a larger field of play in soccer which is played on grass and the players are not as large/strong as the players in the nba are. (average size players with exceptional lungs and legs vs exceptional size players with above average lungs and exceptional legs, arms, chests, etc.)

[Kobay]

Well, we Americans have ADD. We can't withstand two hours of watching floppers try to put up one point and fail 100 times before it.

[Field87ven]

Basketball relies on using power, fast twitch fibers, and sharp, powerful angular movements which put extreme stress on the knee/ankle joints. Jumping into the air (shooting, dunking) and changing directions quickly is much harder on the body than running in generally one motion, even if it is for 80minutes.

I know this first hand too because i play both sports extensively, and trust me basketball kills my knees, soccer works my cardiovascular system, but my knees are fine.

In soccer athletes are much lighter as they are using their aerobic cycles for the most part, they dont rely on sharp movements except for when cutting with the ball. With basketball players use their anaerobic cycles for the most part, which ultimately means they are more muscular and are generally heavier. Heavier, means more weight for the joints to support= more injuries.

Just take a look at the degree bending of the knees needed for a jump shot, or make a good cut with the ball.

Oh and not to mention there are many more muscle groups involved with playing basketball, as you get to use your hands, there are other injuries in the wrist, elbow, arm, forearm which can occur.

[NBA Analyst+]

Because soccer is a girls sport.

[Last Guardian]

I think Lebron James and Dwight Howard would make fantastic goalies in soccer.

[Islanders82]

Playing in net is all about positioning and smarts, not so much athleticism. They'd look like fools out there. One step to your left or right can be the difference between a goal and no goal.

[Apollo64]

It has been mentioned in the thread before and i think this is the most important factor: NBA's schedule is extremely taxing physically for the players, especially for the ones that are expected to play heavy minutes and have an important role for their teams. The european basketball teams have a lot less injuries than the NBA ones, because of their lighter schedule (usually two games at most per week).

[glydersid]

first of all, like other had mentioned, football (thats what i call it) is played on grass/turf. u can do a flip and land on ur back and u'll be fine, cant say the same for timber floors. second of all, there are WAY more contact in basketball and ur upper body is pretty much safe from contact in football. the worse that can happen is when the ball hits, but even that u'll be fine. i played keeper for the school team so i know. third, players spend years perfecting their slide tackles, so that they wont injure themselves or others. the shin pads help too. stuff like wat happens with eduardo is just a rare freak accident.

[trk]

People can die playing Basketball as well. Nicolas Batum's dad was a pro player in France and he died in the middle of a game.

I have played both basketball and soccer, and it always seemed like basketball was more dangerous. Basketball is tougher on your knees, it has a higher risk of dislocating fingers, and if you fall you will land on a much harder surface.