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There have been a couple high profile Achilles tendon injuries recently with KD and Klay.

That they both played on the same team strikes me as a potential red flag. Furthermore Klay's injury didn't occur during a regular basketball season.

Could there be something in their workout or stretching routines that put stress on their Achilles and contributed to the injury?

Certainly feels like it. Not sure on actual data

Short answer: No (there have been articles and studies on that).
You just remember them more because of recency bias and the fact it happened to high profile players.

First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

Johnny Tomala wrote:First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

Not sure if serious but would you have wanted Klay to not touch a Basketball for 2 years? (or all the others guys that had their season ended in February due to the Pandemic?)

It's not like they played in the park against random dudes trying to jump into their legs.

They played in organized pickup games against other NBA players (which every player does every off-season).
There's no correlation here. Just coincidence and bad luck.

Definitely seems like they are happening more frequently. Been a few in the NFL as well.

The game is just faster now. I feel like players are at higher risk

Stop wearing low top shoes to play basketball.

Johnny Tomala wrote:First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

That is what basketball players do man.

Well, I mean if they'd stop testing for Achilles injuries, the occurrence rate would drop to zero.

phanman wrote:

Johnny Tomala wrote:First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

That is what basketball players do man.

Playing injured is what caused the second injury for both. Have to play old man game first year back. I think these guys tried to do what they could before but the body isn’t ready.

SpreeChokeJob wrote:

phanman wrote:

Johnny Tomala wrote:First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

That is what basketball players do man.

Playing injured is what caused the second injury for both. Have to play old man game first year back. I think these guys tried to do what they could before but the body isn’t ready.

Medicals professionals cleared them. I mean Klay had over 500+ days of rehab. It is what it is.

SpreeChokeJob wrote:

phanman wrote:

Johnny Tomala wrote:First high profile Achilles tendon injury was DMC. I think with Klay it shows us once again as with Cousins - don't play pick up basketball. Boogie ACL tear also happened in holiday game.

That is what basketball players do man.

Playing injured is what caused the second injury for both. Have to play old man game first year back. I think these guys tried to do what they could before but the body isn’t ready.

I mean how do you know what Klay was doing when it happened? It wasn't like Kobe's Achilles injury was on some sort of megadynamic play.

When I think what has changed in 2000s is players are significantly more bulkier on upper body, while having very thing legs. Without having anything but own career experience I can't think but maybe this imbalance in muscle structure causes significant stress on lower body that players can't handle in speeds they play at. Also maybe current trend in low cut light weight shoes is a blame here with increased grip on floor surface, not allowing that tiny bit more natural slippage on the shoe.

It would seem there are more in both basketball and football these days. Could it be too much training and not enough rest? If somebody is a doctor, please offer an analysis.

There was a great article 5+ years ago on ESPN where they interviewed Gary Vitti, long time head athletic trainer for the Lakers. He talked about how the modern game involves a lot more changing directions and lateral movement, which is what's increasing the rate of specific injuries.

levon wrote:There was a great article 5+ years ago on ESPN where they interviewed Gary Vitti, long time head athletic trainer for the Lakers. He talked about how the modern game involves a lot more changing directions and lateral movement, which is what's increasing the rate of specific injuries.

just about to say this, defense is way more work now, thats why the minutes are down compared to the 2000s