Post#4 » by Roy T » Tue May 13, 2025 9:16 pm
Twelve years. One month. Two legends. One cursed injury.
What sounds like a twisted basketball fairytale is, in fact, real.
The Achilles doesn’t care about legacies. And neither does the calendar.
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Kobe Bryant — April 12, 2013
The Black Mamba. Year 17. The Lakers clinging to playoff life.
Kobe is playing nearly 46 minutes a game, running himself into the ground to carry LA on his back.
Then — snap. No contact. No warning. Just pain.
A torn Achilles.
He falls.
He gets back up.
He sinks two free throws on one leg. Walks off.
And we all knew something had changed — not just for him, but for the game.
His post-game Facebook rant? Legendary.
“All the training and sacrifice just flies out the window with one step that I’ve done a million times…”
Goosebumps.
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Jayson Tatum — May 12, 2025
Exactly 12 years and 1 month later, another face of the league drops to the hardwood.
Game 4. Playoffs. Madison Square Garden.
Tatum, age 27, is in his prime. The Celtics’ alpha. MVP-level season. Boston’s hope.
He dives for a loose ball. No contact.
He collapses.
Everyone watching immediately knows — it’s the Achilles.
It’s the same script.
Same silence. Same disbelief.
Only the jersey and decade have changed.
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Why it hits harder than a crossover ankle breaker:
• Both injuries happened in April/May — right as everything was on the line.
• Both players were franchise leaders, emotionally and statistically.
• Both Achilles tears came without contact, in the final minutes of massive games.
• Both changed the trajectory of their teams — and maybe, the league.
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A cursed date in NBA lore?
April 12. May 12.
It’s not just a coincidence.
It’s almost poetic…
The kind that makes basketball feel like mythology.
And now the question isn’t just “Will Tatum return?”
It’s:
“Will he write his own post-Achilles story — or will history repeat itself?”
We’ve seen this movie before. Let’s hope the ending’s different this time.
Mamba watched.
Now Tatum walks that same fire.
12 years later. The torch — and the tear — passed.