Missing Thabo Sefolosha
It is the whisper or the elephant in the room, what no one is saying out loud but what is heartbreakingly true. It should have been Thabo Sefolosha in the game on Wednesday night. It should have been Sefolosha switched onto J.R. Smith. It should have been Sefolosha’s length that made J.R. Smith’s contested shots a little chaotic. It should have been Sefolosha forcing Smith into a series of quixotic shots that were destined to fall flat.
But it wasn’t Thabo Sefolosha. It wasn’t Sefolosha out there on the wing. It wasn’t Sefolosha on the court. His absence is a glaring hole in the Atlanta Hawks world even as they celebrated their first ever berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Hawks are making the best of a situation that was thrust upon them six weeks ago, one that changed the physics of their team and one they could not control. That does little to alter the challenge, a monumental deficit that cannot be overlooked even if no one wants to talk about the details of it anymore.
But the details cannot be siphoned off or forgotten, in this case, the details are the story. What happened to Thabo Sefolosha on a terrible morning in Brooklyn directly relates to race, culture and institutionalized violence, not to mention the criminal justice maze, of which, Thabo Sefolosha finds himself stuck in the middle as he waits for a court appearance.
Eliminate the visceral reaction to the ferocious beating and you are left with the weight and baggage of a morning in Brooklyn that led to axiomatic consequences that wrecked Sefolosha’s season, leaving him with a gruesome injury, a complicated surgery, a painful recovery and a playoff run that stopped on a dime.
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It’s an old story now that a month and a half have passed and the Hawks have made it through two series and are trailing in a third. Besides, no one seems interested in bringing it all up again; this seems universal. What is the purpose in repeating something no one can change nor make better, a situation with roots much deeper than wins or losses?
Indeed, truth is stranger than fiction. You can take the Thabo Sefolosha story and extract the basketball narrative. What is left is a depressingly familiar tale that for half of the country seems improbable and for the other half it is all too real.
Sefolosha is at home, devastated by the turn of events as he tries to recover. He is a spectator on a good day, and on a bad day he is depressed and miserable. It’s easier, convenient, quieter, for everyone outside his inner circle to pretend he doesn’t even exist.
Jan 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha (25) drives in the first quarter of their game against the Indiana Pacers at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 110- 91. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Except. The Atlanta Hawks have to stop LeBron James without Thabo Sefolosha’s talent. Even without saying his name, this entire series with the Cleveland Cavaliers has Thabo Sefolosha’s imprint upon it. When defenses break down and J.R. Smith is at his imperfect best, when players break down and Iman Shumpert launchs open threes, or when Lebron James has one defender on him, not two, Thabo Sefolosha will be thought of in terms of what if?
What if he was here? What if he played in this series? What if he took a significant share of the LeBron James load so DeMarre Carroll wouldn’t exhaust himself? Or, DeMarre wouldn’t have to rush back from an injury because Sefolosha was there.
It’s never mentioned but the fatigue in Kyle Korver’s legs has to do with what he is doing defensively, what he has had to do in the absence of Thabo Sefolosha. But, Korver is a poor substitute, modestly effective but often inadequate.
For much of the season, the Hawks took for granted the luxury of turning to Sefolosha and trusting him to prevent heartbreak or to stop excellence or to make something happen on defense, like a last second shot that fails. Sefolosha was an important free agent signing because he was a natural fit within the Mike Budenholzer culture of generosity. As a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sefolosha moved the ball and he made open threes and as a bonus, he played in the NBA Finals against Lebron James.
But Sefolosha was something else too, something greater. He was a preferred piece for this tapestry puzzle of the Atlanta Hawks defense which is based upon responsibility, individual grit and creating anguish. The combination of DeMarre Carroll and Thabo Sefolosha on the wing, in single possession moments, elevated the anxiety and tension of offensive players, forcing them to make contested shots and forcing them to believe in a myth, that they had to be perfect.
Which brings us back to last night and DeMarre Carroll’s body crashing out of bounds. Everything after that moment of impact felt hollow. The Hawks would not be in this position in the first place if they weren’t resilient and determined. True to their nature they manned up and orchestrated a come back that almost- almost paid dividends.
But, it didn’t.
With Game 2 on the horizon, Thabo Sefolosha watches at home, mired in the reality of an unbearable truth. Objects are not closer than they appear. Awash in the reality of an exiled man, it changes nothing. And yet, at the same time, the cruel irony is, it has changed everything.
The Atlanta Hawks post-season, particularly their series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is an unanswered question about who the Hawks can trust on defense. Once upon a time, the Atlanta Hawks trusted Thabo Sefolosha.
In Game 2 they will miss him. And in Game 3. And in Game 4. But, they will never admit to this out loud.