Tom Thibodeau was admittedly worried about Zach LaVine.
The then-Timberwolves coach had seen his potential up-and-coming star undergo season-ending surgery to repair a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee back in 2017, and had some serious concerns.
Not that the knee would heal or that LaVine would mentally get past the obstacles of such an injury, but that he was attacking the rehab too aggressively.
“There were a lot of days he had to be backed off,’’ Thibodeau said back then.
But then that’s always been LaVine.
See the rim, attack it. Hear the talk that he’s just a dunker, become an elite outside shooter. Notice the critics harping on being a one-dimensional player, work on the defense.
Maybe that’s what gets lost in watching LaVine play. Because of the smoothness of his game, the ease in which he can rise and shoot, it’s simpler to stereotype that kind of talent as sent from heaven. The actual sweat and hard work that’s been put in to elevate his game to an All-Star level has far too often been overlooked.
Because one thing LaVine has always been is a worker.
A vital trait that has served him well to this point, as he now sits at the same table with the best the NBA has to offer.
Sitting at the table, however, and staying at the table are two very different things. And now LaVine has to understand the next phase of his rise if he truly is committed to being a championship-level player as he’s insisted and wants to be paid like.
When Jimmy Butler came back from his first All-Star Game in 2015, he had more than a few phone numbers from fellow All-Stars. By the time he left Team USA and the Summer Olympics in 2016 with a gold medal around his neck, he had a handful of elite players that he wanted to try and team with.
Butler quickly understood the game within the game.
All-Star Weekend and Team USA are great for the individual brand, but more importantly – especially the last two decades – are the ultimate recruiting trips. Twice Butler thought he would be teaming with Kyrie Irving, first with the Bulls and then in Minnesota.
Neither worked out.
But it wasn’t from a lack of trying. Ask Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh how it played out for them.
Now it’s LaVine’s turn at selling the Bulls as a destination organization for the game’s elite, hopefully realizing that he needs help.
Not a healthy Lauri Markkanen and a solid veteran-led bench help, but real help. An alpha of equal or preferably greater talent.
Because as great as LaVine has been through the first 34 games of the 2020-21 season – and make no mistake that 28.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, while shooting 52.5% from the field and 43.5% from three-point range is great – the Bulls are still only 16-18 in the Eastern Conference, sitting uncomfortably in a potential play-in game for the postseason.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, but we’ve been in pretty much every game obviously after the first couple,’’ LaVine said, when assessing the first half of this year. “I think we just got to stay consistent and look forward to maintaining our goal for the end of the year.’’
Fair enough, but hopefully LaVine has much loftier goals than just seeing the playoffs for the first time in seven NBA seasons. Even with the All-Star Weekend reduced to just a day because of the coronavirus, it’s a day that LaVine could put in some serious groundwork for the immediate future.
Fortunately, work has seldom been an issue for him.
