Falling Tatum, those players with severe Achilles tendon injuries!

In the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Celtics faced the Knicks in the fourth game, with the last three minutes left in the game, the Celtics trailed the Knicks 104-111, which was particularly important for the Celtics who were looking for a defending title but were behind in big scores.

In the following round, Brown broke through at the top but accidentally fell to the ground. Tatum saved but failed to grab the ball, and then fell to the ground. Anunobi intercepted the ball and rushed towards the front court, making a dunk to widen the gap to nine points.

After this round, the biggest damage to the Celtics is no longer this game. After Tatum failed to save the ball, he lay on the ground, holding his right ankle with a painful expression. The medical staff quickly rushed into the field, and the two supported Tatum to walk out of the field with one foot. At this moment, Tatum joined an extremely unfortunate group.

According to statistics, from 1991 to 2023, a total of 42 NBA players suffered Achilles tendon injuries. The in progress 2025 directly surpassed the previous record, with as many as six players injured. In addition to Tatum, less than a month ago, Lillard also had Drew Smith, Sanassis Antetokounmpo and others who were injured in the regular season.

In this team, there are both star players, players who have obtained fixed rotation seats, and bench substitutes, and the age of injury is very different. According to the report statistics, the average age of players when they were injured was 28 years old, Kobe and Billups were already 34 and 35 years old in their late careers, while Durant and Wes Matthews were 28-30 years old.

They were injured and they were different from each other. Durant was injured in the fifth game of the 2019 Finals, Kobe was in the regular season, Klay Thompson was in the off-season training, and Elton Brand was in the off-season training with his teammates.

Players who have suffered Achilles tendon injuries are described as a strange feeling. Some say they hear the sound of breaking, while others say it feels like someone kicked him. When this situation occurs, most players are basically aware of the injury.

Compared with the rupture of the Achilles tendon, the rupture of the cruciate ligament is also serious, but compared with the Achilles tendon injury, the cruciate ligament can theoretically return to the pre-injury state, but the Achilles tendon is more complex and connected to the muscles. Even if you can return to the court, you will have to face some restrictions.

If you list a captain for this unfortunate team, the first choice must be Dominic Wilkins.

Wilkins was injured in 1992. Achilles tendon injuries were not common at that time, so Wilkins, who fell due to the injury, wanted to return to the field at the time, but was still stopped by the doctor. 21 years later, when Kobe suffered an Achilles tendon injury, he found Wilkins and wanted to know how he recovered and returned to the court.

"You can't be anxious, you can't be anxious about this injury. You have to wait until you know you're ready before coming back. It's not when others think you're ready, you have to keep working hard."

In 2015, when Matthews was injured, he also received a message from Kobe, who gave enough opinions on his recovery. Then there was Rudy Guy's Achilles tendon injury in 2017, and Kobe also found him and gave his own advice:

"That's a kind of combat injury, treat it as a medal of honor. You may lose something, but you will get better somewhere else."

Then in 2020, when Durant was injured, it was replaced by Guy who left him a message on social media, asking him to stay strong and not be afraid. Then he also received Kobe's special advice:

"Don't be a crying guy, everything will be fine, you will come back and be yourself."

Judging from the content revealed by the media, Kobe and Durant discussed a lot about recovery from the injury. These are the power of Durant's ability to smoothly settle down and get out of the shadow of his injury. On the other hand, Atkinson, who was the assistant coach of the Warriors at the time, also invited Wilkins to provide experience in Durant's rehabilitation work.

For these players who have suffered Achilles tendon injuries, the care and experience sharing from their predecessors is still very critical. Only players who have experienced it will know what kind of mood they will face and what challenges they need to overcome during this recovery process.

According to statistics, players who have suffered Achilles tendon rupture will need about 10 months to recover before they can return to the court. Combining different players, it took Wilkins nine months to return to the court, Kobe eight months, Matthews was probably the fastest, only seven months, and Durant was the longest, and it took him 18 months to return to the court.

After a long recovery process, most players are able to return to the court. According to statistics, among the 37 players who suffered Achilles tendon injuries, 8 left the NBA, while other players who returned to the court had to face tension almost their entire careers.

Wilkins returned to the stadium at the pre-season training camp in 1992. According to his interview, he fell to the ground in a later training session. His first reaction was to touch his ankle, which seemed to be his subconscious action. In the first game back to the court, Wilkins scored 30 points against the Knicks, and then he shouted at his teammates:

"I'm back, I'm back!"

All players who have suffered Achilles tendon injuries need a period of adjustment to adapt to the rhythm of the game, and even Kobe, who is paranoid to the point of basketball, is no exception. He played a mess in his first return game, scoring only 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 28 minutes, and also made 8 turnovers.

Durant's first score was a dunk after returning to the court in 18 months, and scored 15 points and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes of the game. Relying on his recovery experience, Durant also gave Klay Thompson some suggestions:

"First focus on mid-range jump shots, then start building a three-point perimeter, and then start trying to break into the basket. ”

But Clay did not adopt these suggestions at the beginning, and in his first month of returning to the court, he shot only 33% from three-pointers, and later he began to think Durant’s advice was right:

"Those shots didn’t go in, so I had to adjust so that my feet could keep up. ”

Although most NBA players can return to the stadium after injury, most players are different from before. According to statistics, among the 37 players who returned to the stadium, only 10 can return to the pre-injury level. If players are divided into star players, starters and substitutes, their proportion of returning to the pre-injury level is 22%, 0%, and 100% respectively.

But these are just cold numbers, and each player still has to face their own different problems.

In the four seasons before injury, the 28-year-old Brand averaged more than 20 points per game and was selected for the All-Star twice. But after the injury, he lost his explosive power and never averaged more than 15 points per game.

As for other late-stage stars, the impact is more obvious. 34-year-old Kobe averaged 27.3 points before injury, but in the three seasons when he returned from injury, he only played 107 games in total, scoring 19 points per game and shooting percentage was 37%. Guy, who was injured at the age of 30, averaged nearly 19 points per game at the time, and later moved to the Spurs and returned to his second season after injury, barely regained his original level. Although the data was not as good as before, he played the best scoring efficiency in his career.

Mathews was 28 years old when he was injured. At that time, he played the most stable performance in his career at the Trail Blazers. After injury, the team did not choose to renew his contract with him. He later moved to the Mavericks, with an astonishing speed. He was no longer at the level of the past, his movement speed was significantly affected, and his shooting percentage was not as good as before.

Wilkins is one of the few players who can return to the court without much impact. Wilkins, 32, was the most explosive player in the league in the injury, and averaged 28.1 points per game. He returned to the court after nine months of recovery and remained at 28 points for the next two seasons, twice selected for the All-Star Game and the All-Series.

But even so, Wilkins admitted that he made many changes after injury to maintain his form.

Durant is another excellent example of returning to the court. He averaged 28 points per game in the injured season He scored 26 points and was selected as the All-Star and second team. After a long recovery of 18 months, he changed to a Nets jersey and still scored 26.9 points per game. He was indeed affected on the court, but the threat of scoring has not been reduced much.

For many players who suffered Achilles tendon injuries, Durant is the best imitation object, but even if he recovers ideally, he is no longer in his state before the injury, both physically and mentally. After returning to the court, his explosiveness and athletic ability will be affected. In this process, he has to face his dark side and fully understand his state.