It was obviously discussed at length here last summer.

If there was a HIPAA violation, presumably it would have been, you know, acted on by now. By the authorities. At worst, it was a technical violation, and the Blazers would have to pay a fine. It has nothing to do with the league or the CBA, and certainly nothing to do with the question of whether not the Blazers fulfilled the medical retirement requirements, or whether the intent of the CBA provision was to address this type of situation. The whole HIPAA thing is a grand irrelevance as to Darius’ possible cap impact on Portland.

And the whole idea of filing a suit or grievance based on restricting his chances to find a job is DOA, DOA, DOA, DOA, DOA. It was an absurdity before, and now it is a dead absurdity.

It was an absurdity, because if Darius were healthy enough and good enough to play NBA ball, a team would, you know, give him a medical exam and a tryout. They would NEVER decide against that simply because KP said something to the press. Silliness, silliness. This was one of the stupidest things Dwight Jaynes ever wrote. If KP said he was a baby-killing, frog-fornicating drug addict, then there might be a case.

And it’s a DOA dead absurdity, as evidenced by the fact that more than one NBA team has done exactly what I said — made their own medical assessment and let him try out for the team. He signed a contract with Boston, for crying out loud. There’s nothing in it.

And even if there was something in it, it would be irrelevant to the question of legal intent of that provision, which would be the basis of the appeal.

Unless KP flat out lied, two doctors, including the league appointed doctor, recommended he never play again and there is a high chance of needing knee replacement. If that is true, the Blazers did the ethical, appropriate, and legal (within the CBA) thing by going for medical retirement, and if another team chooses to ignore that medical advice and play Darius, there is no reason the Blazers should be penalized.

It would be different if it had been the Blazers’ doctor. But it was an independent, league-appointed doctor. You don’t penalize a team for following the advice of the doctor you appointed.

As to the guys you named, it simply comes down to this. There needs to be enough clear blue water between Darius and your #12 guy on the roster to justify going into 10 games with only 11 players available. Whether Darius is enough better than their #12 to justify that remains to be seen, but that is the assessment every team that considers him has to make.