Michigan Basketball: Let’s Celebrate LeVert, Not Berate Him
Michigan basketball star Caris LeVert’s time as a Wolverine is over, with some wrongfully calling him out as “soft.” We should celebrate his career instead.
Caris LeVert’s career as a Michigan Wolverine came to an official and premature end Tuesday with the announcement from John Beilein and LeVert himself that he would be shut down for the rest of the season. This announcement seemed long overdue as LeVert had missed almost every game since injuring his lower leg in the Big Ten opener against Illinois this season. His only return was a limited, clearly-not-100% role coming off the bench against Purdue.
Related Story: LeVert done for season
This is sad news for Michigan fans. LeVert was an electric player that at his best was easily the best man on the court. When he was healthy enough to see substantial time on the court, he carried the team in many ways. Caris LeVert led the team in points, assists and rebounds. He was a creator not only for himself, but for everybody around him. He made his teammates better. Before the leg injury, he was in the running for multiple awards and accolades. Unfortunately that contention after he missed too much time.
While the announcement that LeVert was done led many fans to say, “Thank you Caris,” and wish him well in his future. Unfortunately, many “fans” who have been criticizing LeVert for his injury all season also came out of the woodwork. Because LeVert missed large portions of this season as well as last season, he’s been called out as “soft” and not really being a team player because he’s selfishly protecting himself and nobody else. Our own Tyler Fenwick addressed these fans earlier in the season.
It’s interesting to me that we see this criticism for LeVert, but we did not see much of it, if at all, when Spike Albrecht’s career ended earlier in the season. Albrecht is another important guard who endured lingering injuries the past few season and forced his Michigan career to be cut short. Yet there’s never any doubt that he was actually soft or selfish or whatever you want to say.
Part of that is because of the way Spike played, of course. He was the scrappy underdog who came off the bench, shocked the world in the National Championship game, and flirted with Kate Upton on Twitter. He had tenacity and fight, and everything else that defines the “scrappy white basketball player” trope.
The thing is that Caris LeVert’s role put him in a greater position of scrutiny in general. Caris LeVert was a player with hype to be Big Ten Player of the Year and a lottery draft pick. As great as Spike was, he was always a role player. He wasn’t going to be a first round draft pick. If anything he’d get to see some time on a Summer League squad or go to Europe for a while. LeVert was Michigan’s guy, so it hurt to see him go, and some people unjustly blame the star player for being hurt while the team is struggling.
Yet I don’t see how you can question Caris LeVert’s dedication to Michigan basketball. He was supposed to be the top dog in the past two seasons, which has distracted some people from seeing that he’s an underdog himself. He was a relatively unheralded recruit from Ohio. He saw time as a freshman on that Final Four team, but he was severely undersized. He came back bigger and stronger and became probably the second or third-most important contributor on one of the best offenses to ever in college basketball. He wasn’t just some prima donna who was only in it for himself. He got to where he is because of his hard work and dedication.
If Caris LeVert was really soft and only in it for himself, he wouldn’t even be in this situation. He would have declared for the NBA draft before this season and said goodbye to Michigan basketball. Coming back to college when he could have been paid to play was a risky move. Not only is he playing for no money, but his draft stock is decreasing because of his injury issues.
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Being a sports fan can make us insane. That insanity sometimes leads us to call out dedicated players and insult them just because we’re upset that a team we like isn’t doing as well as it could be. We should be better than that. We shouldn’t let our judgments be clouded and forget what Caris LeVert accomplished as a Michigan Wolverine, even if it wasn’t a full career.