Social media can be a toxic waste pit at times. If you follow Kansas basketball on these outlets, you will understand. Some of the perceptions about Kansas basketball and Darryn Peterson’s injury are poorly formed, at best.
Social media can be a great place to get news and exchange ideas, but more and more it slides toward the lowest common denominator: bad takes, opinions, and speculation.
While fans are understandably frustrated about Peterson’s continued absence, people need to understand that players get injured and rest and treatment are usually the best recovery methods.
Darryn Peterson would be playing for the Kansas basketball team if he were able
If you’ve ever played sports or been around athletes, there is one almost universal thing: they are incredibly competitive, and they want to play ball.
To suggest otherwise, as some people have theorized on various social media posts, shows a total lack of understanding. A hamstring injury is very tricky. It hampers one’s ability to accelerate, change direction quickly, run, jump, and push off the injured leg with any force.
Hamstrings usually do not heal quickly either, depending on the severity of the injury. It could be a strain, a pull, or a tear. Each of these has various degrees of severity, and all but a slight strain take time to heal.
There is no doubt Peterson would be playing if it were all up to him, but hamstrings are also easily re-injured if not allowed to heal properly. Head coach Bill Self and his staff are absolutely correct in holding Peterson out of these games if he is not fully healed.
You can rest assured that if Peterson could play, and play at 100 percent, he would. Does anyone believe he wanted to miss a prime matchup like Duke, or a publicized event like the Players Era Festival? This event was made with players like him in mind.
Some of this doubt surrounding Peterson might have been avoided had Self been a bit more forthcoming about the injury initially. There are laws in this country that do protect players' medical conditions to an extent, and it is possible Self did not want to alarm fans without reason too soon.
Ignore the social media conspiracy theorists that thrive in anonymity. Trust that the Kansas basketball staff is doing what is best for Peterson’s long-term health and what will help this team in the future. There are no dark corners in this story. Players get hurt, and sometimes they need time to heal correctly. End of story!
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