Iman Shumpert writes first-person account of injury: "This wrist will not stop the Cleve Cav Clan from completing our mission"

LeBron James probably likes to think it all started with him. In the summer of 2014, he announced his decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he did not do so with a televised interview, or with a tweet, or in a press release on his website. Instead, he famously penned an essay that was published in Sports Illustrated.

Just a few months later, in October, Derek Jeter launched The Players' Tribute, a "new media platform that presents the voices of athletes." Kevin Love is a Senior Editor for the site, and has written multiple pieces, including one recently on his decision to re-sign with the Cavs. Mo Williams recently wrote about his own decision to return to Cleveland.

And then yesterday, Iman Shumpert took to Bleacher Report to share his account of how the wrist injury that will keep him sidelined for 12-14 weeks went down:

I kept playing with throbbing in the wrist. It's nothing out of the ordinary to feel pain in the wrist after a power punch. But this was different. When I went to shoot a pull-up jumper a few plays later, my jump shot didn't even make it to the rim. This was the beginning of a bad gut feeling.

After describing the injury and the frustration it has caused him, Shumpert went on to assure fans that everything will be fine:

I'm aiming for being at my best in June, and that should come as no surprise. I'm confident in my team's ability to adapt to any situation the same way we adapted when they counted us out early in the playoffs. This wrist will not stop the Cleve Cav Clan from completing our mission.

This is an important point. It is unfortunate that Shumpert will not be available to start the season, and it will force the team to adapt. All that really matters, though, is that the core is healthy come playoff time. As we all should have learned last season, games in November and December don't mean much for teams that are trying to win the title. It's the games in June that really count.

Perhaps Shumpert will use some of his recovery time to continue pursuing his interest in writing. He certainly has an open invitation to submit work to Fear the Sword.