3 NBA stars hurt their Achilles tendons this postseason. Is this injury becoming more common?
The Indiana Pacers were playing for the NBA championship on Sunday evening. But when the star Tyrese Haliburton was swept away with an Achilles injury at the end of the first quarter of match 7 of the final, the hopes of the franchise fell.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City Thunder would win the title with a 103-97 victory, but questions remain on what would have happened if Haliburton had been able to play the last three quarters.
His injury also reopened the discussion on the reasons why so many NBA players tear their Achilles tendons. This single playoff series, Haliburton, goalkeeper from Bucks Damian Lillard and the Celtics wing Jayson Tatum all suffered the same injury.
Some have argued that 82 regular season games and an animated qualifying series calendar lead to a greater probability of injuries.
But the NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this month that injuries in the playoffs were “considerably decreasing” compared to other years, noting that he did not think that the more compressed nature of the calendar was linked to more injuries.
“I don’t really see the advantage of reducing the number of games,” he told media members. “People said you should reduce the number of games, as it will lead to a reduction in the number of injuries. There is absolutely no data to suggest this. ”
Medical experts say that the high sports caliber – not just the number of games – can provide an explanation.
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscles to the heel bone. It is the longest and largest tendon in the body and can take the stress of about six times the body weight of a person, said Dr. Julia Iafrate, sports medicine in Nyu Langone. But basketball is continuously fast and explosive increases the risk of Achilles injury, she said.
Basketball players load more “aggressively” tendons, increasing the risk of injury, she said.
“Usually they are motionless, then they will take an aggressive step, to accelerate somewhere, or take off, and that’s when the injury occurs.”
“I think there is more pressure to perform at a high level and with these high-level athletes, the expectation of their forecast of being able to constantly push injuries creates an environment that may be a higher risk,” she added.
Dr. Adam Bitterman, president of the Northwell Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Department in New York, said that Achilles injuries can occur in any activity that produces a sudden eccentric contraction of the Achille tendon, which means that it is lying when it is under tension.
Bitterman said that he had noticed higher rates of injuries to Achilles recently tendons, from high school athletes to professionals and weekend warriors. The reasons could result from lifestyle choices, shoes they wear or pre-existing conditions, he said.
Haliburton underwent a calf tension in match 5 of the NBA final, but has always played the last two games less than 100%. After the tension, he said he was determined to be on the ground despite the injury.
“If I can walk, then I want to play,” said Haliburton after the Pacers lost game 5.
Haliburton said he had an “honest conversation” with head coach Rick Carlisle to get him out of match 6 if he “hurt the team.”
“Obviously, I want to be on the ground,” he said. “But I want to win more than anything.”
Haliburton finished with 14 points and five assists in an Indiana victory which forced match 7, but it is possible that the additional tension on his Achilles and the calf strain may have contributed to his injury in Achille, said Bitterman and Iafrate, none of whom treated Haliburton.
“It is difficult to give it an exact number, but certainly play on a tense calf muscle or a tense tendon can certainly increase the risk of additional injury if it has continued to trauma,” said Iafrate.
“If it is more rigid than usual, then no matter how much it warms, this tendon tries to protect itself, so it is not able to absorb so much strength,” she said.
Bitterman said that it was generally nine months to recover from an Achilles tear – although professional athletes can push the limits to accelerate the recovery time. However, it is likely that Haliburton will miss all or most of the NBA 2025-2026 season. The Pacers announced that Haliburton had been operated on Martin O’malley at the hospital on Martin O’Malley on Monday for special surgery in New York.
Haliburton’s injury is strangely similar to what happened to Kevin during the 2019 NBA finals. During was with the Golden State Warriors when he torn his Achilles in match 5 after his return from a calf injury. The Warriors then lost the series in six games against the Raptors of Toronto.
During missed all the next season.
