Matt Bonner plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He's got a career average of 41.3% on 3-pointers but last season he only managed 36.5%. That's apparently due to an elbow injury—inflammation of the tendons, which is commonly referred to as "tennis elbow". The cause could be postural misalignment or unilateral motion that hasn't been identified or balanced, but Bonner seems to have something else he wants to blame—his iPhone. No, that wasn't a typo. Here's what Bonner told Tim O'Sullivan of the Concord Monitor:
"Everybody is going to find this hilarious, but here's my theory on how I got it," he said. "When the new iPhone came out it was way bigger than the last one, and I think because I got that new phone it was a strain to use it, you have to stretch further to hit the buttons, and I honestly think that's how I ended up developing it."
More silly than hilarious, as almost anyone reading it would take it as either the worst excuse ever or as a passingly funny joke. Unfortunately, when pro athletes say something, even in jest, some people believe it, and those who might otherwise benefit from an iPhone, including it's accessibility features, are instead subject to fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Take for example, Rolling Store. World-renowned gadget comedians that they are, they re-blogged the zinger and quipped, "Maybe it's time he got a Galaxy?"
At 6'10" tall, it's hard to imagine Bonner's fingers would have to stretch much, even to wrap themselves several times around a full-sized iPad. (See, that's how you drop gadget jokes!)
Better advice for Bonner would be to get himself to a top-notch physiotherapist who can identify whatever issues are causing the inflammation and give him specific exercises to clear them out. That's what anyone who cares about him or his career would do.
That and point him to iMore where he could not only find out how to use an iPhone 6 Plus one-handed, but be correctly informed that even a Galaxy mini is—wait for it—bigger than an iPhone.
