Of all the clauses in the history of clauses — not you, Santa, we're talking contracts — Michael Jordan's "love-of-the-game" clause is certainly the most famous clause. As you probably know, the clause allowed Jordan to play basketball anytime, anywhere without consequence. No matter the setting, Michael Jordan was permitted to hoop without fear of any retribution.
Though Jordan's clause wasn't the norm back in the 80s when he negotiated for it, it's kind of become commonplace in today's game. Considering most of these guys worshipped Jordan growing up, that's not terribly surprising. However, as the Indiana Pacers recently found out, playing anywhere and everywhere can have some pretty bad results. Guard A.J. Price(notes) was injured at a celebrity basketball game at Half Hollow Hills West High School in New York. From the Indianapolis Star's Mike Wells:
A.J. Price, who had a solid rookie season, said late Saturday night that he will have surgery on his left knee sometime this week after injuring it during a basketball game in Long Island, N.Y.
"I was making a move to the basket and it happened," Price, a New York native, said by phone. "It's something with my kneecap. I'm going to be out a few months."
Ouch. According to further reports, Price suffered a fractured left patella and will be on the shelf for 4-6 months. It's the same knee that Price injured (torn ACL) during college, which is definitive proof that certain body parts can be cursed. Word to Greg Oden(notes).
With the injury, Price will be missing all of the offseason training he'd be doing, plus there's a chance he'll miss the preseason and the first month of next year's regular season. Furthermore, next year is the last on Price's non-guaranteed contract, meaning he'll need to recover from injury and get back to playing as well as he was just to have a spot in the NBA. That's a bad break — literally.
