Kobe Bryant was not the only NBA star that tried unconventional methods to heal his injuries this offseason.
Mickael Pietrus suffered a right knee injury last season that knocked him out of the last 12 games of the NBA season last year. The injury also kept him from playing for his native country France in EuroBasket and kept him from pursuing oversea opportunities during the lockout.
Pietrus reportedly turned to traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as acupuncture, massage, and other unique remedies.
When asked about it, Pietrus simply replied his reasoning for choosing his actions,
“I knew kung fu masters Jackie Chen and Bruce Lee. Shaolin kung fu is the best!”
Well, good points I guess. Fair enough.
He was not the first player to turn to the Shaolin Temple for help. Shaquille O’ Neal also experimented with the treatment. However, it will be hard to judge the effectiveness of the treatment seeing how he did not complete the last two stages before he left to go back to France.
I have always heard that the Phoenix Suns training staff is magical in its treatments as it was given credit for keeping Grant Hill off of the injury list and on the court. Shaq also was adamant about their effectiveness on keeping him feeling refreshed. Maybe it was really the Monks in China that helped the Big Diesel.
Unfortunately, thanks to the lockout, Pietrus did not have the chance of working with the training during the offseason.
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