One of the annoying things about sports are that some fans can be irrationally cruel to players they feel are not holding up their end of a deal. Washington Wizards center and highest-paid free agent signing from the 2016 summer, Ian Mahinmi, was the subject of incredible criticism throughout last season. In my opinion, that was nearly completely unwarranted as Mahinmi is one of the kindest people you will ever meet.
Sure, the $64 million man was only able to play 36 total games last year out of 97 potential appearances, but was it his fault that he missed time with surgery for a partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee or strained left calf? No. It is not like he purposely got injured or was being careless with his healthy that resulted in injury. It was "unfortunate" bad luck as head coach Scott Brooks would put it.
However, let the past be the past as the veteran shot blocker is now fully recovered from his past injuries after undergoing a clean-up scope to again repair his left meniscus early in the offseason.
“He’s been great, doing a lot of work on the court," Brooks shared. "Scrimmaging with the guys, he’s healthy. He’s in the best shape as he has ever been in his, probably, career. Give him and our staff a lot of credit, they’ve worked a lot of hours to be in this position. We’re excited about what he brings to the team. He knows how to play, he has championship experience [with Dallas]."
All accounts have Mahinmi on track to play in all 82 regular season games and the playoffs during the 2017-18 season barring another fluke injury and that is a great sign for the bench unit that was disastrous for much of last year. The time the bench was not too bad, in fact, was when Mahinmi was on the floor. With Kelly Oubre Jr. guarding the ball and Mahinmi the rim, the second unit had a clear defensive identity and clamped down on their opponents. Mahinmi had the second best defensive rating on the team, after Tomas Satoransky, at 104 points allowed per 100 possessions. Sprinkle in the offensive presence of the second string backcourt of Tim Frazier and Jodie Meeks and the Wizards may be on to something.
The bonus of having Ian Mahinmi healthy and well is his presence on the practice court working against Marcin Gortat because iron does indeed sharpen iron. Mahinmi can help Gortat's defense and Gortat can help Mahinmi's offense. The Polish Machine is already embracing the idea.
“We got to compete for the spot," Gortat said. "He probably wants to play lots of minutes. I want to play a lot of minutes. We are just going to compete. … He’s a challenge for me also. He’s going to push me forward to make me a better player in practice."
The recently married Mahinmi is a joy to be around as he is a very cheerful individual, which is why it makes it so easy to root for him to bounce back. You can also bet that no one wants him to show up more than he himself.
“I feel like losing weight is one thing, but to me, it was more about being healthy," Mahinmi explained. "Like, I’m super healthy now. I feel great, have lots of energy, and I feel like over the course of the season, it’s a long season with ups and downs, this will help."