Haliburton injured, calf-strains should be automatic DNP's

[GrandTheftRondo]

Daron Holmes (for Denver) tore his Achilles in summer league. And then Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman tore theirs in the first two weeks of the regular season (for Indiana). It's only magnified now because it happened to "all-star" caliber players in Lillard, Tatum and Haliburton. However, in each case, every single Achilles tear looked exactly the same. Guy takes a step back to get a running start and pop.

I’m sure there’s a number of different factors but in the case of the star players I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that overwork led to it.

All sorts of injury issues can pop up when you play a lot of minutes. Tatum had barely rested since 2020.

Dame has played a lot of ball.

Haliburton maybe not as much as those two but he seems prone to leg issues and had played two straight long playoffs.

Everything is contextual. KD stayed in the West, which is great for the Pacers. Bucks might blow up their team and send Giannis to the West, which would be great for any team in the East considering he's still in his prime. Boston is not going to be competitive next year with their injury situation. Miami traded away Butler and appears to have taken a step back. That leaves a bunch of young teams in Detroit, the Nets, Orlando, and the Raptors. I love Detroit, but they are not ready. Orlando may be a little better, but that's a really inconsistent and spooky team. And, finally, the Knicks will have new coach, so that situation is not exactly stable. Just looking at the landscape in the East, the Pacers have would been a fairly prohibitive favorite to get back to the Finals. They just took a 68-win team to 7 games, and this was not a fluke. They have an elite team. And on top of all that, they might have the best coach in the NBA. What the worst case scenario if you sit him? You lose the finals nobody expected to win anyway with a team locked and loaded ready to make a run at another championship.

You seem to be forgetting Cleveland who had no injury luck again this season.

People will call them playoff chokers etc but the Pacers run afterwards makes it clear that they needed to be healthy to win that series and it wasn’t just some complete collapse by Cleveland.

Yes Indiana took a 68 win team to 7 games but OKC really wasn’t that impressive this playoffs for a 68 win team. They almost got knocked out by a badly banged up Nuggets team.

I dunno. As a Celtics fan who has watched them be in the top of the East in the Tatum era, I know it’s still damn hard to get to the finals let alone a game from winning it.

To me it’s even harder when your roster isn’t insanely talented and is just extremely well coached like Indiana’s is.

Yes the East is more open next year but other teams are going to make some moves.

Regardless I’m pretty hopeful being a Celtics fan and with Tatum coming back from an Achilles also that they’re not a death sentence like they once were and both players will come back 100%, ready to win the east in 2027.

[JM00n69]

OKCs title gonna get that asterisk

2024-25 NBA Champions (*Refs; *Haliburton)

[Rainwater]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical expert, but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up as a freak accident more than anything else.

[ballzboyee]

I’m sure there’s a number of different factors but in the case of the star players I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that overwork led to it.

All sorts of injury issues can pop up when you play a lot of minutes. Tatum had barely rested since 2020.

Dame has played a lot of ball.

Haliburton maybe not as much as those two but he seems prone to leg issues and had played two straight long playoffs.

Everything is contextual. KD stayed in the West, which is great for the Pacers. Bucks might blow up their team and send Giannis to the West, which would be great for any team in the East considering he's still in his prime. Boston is not going to be competitive next year with their injury situation. Miami traded away Butler and appears to have taken a step back. That leaves a bunch of young teams in Detroit, the Nets, Orlando, and the Raptors. I love Detroit, but they are not ready. Orlando may be a little better, but that's a really inconsistent and spooky team. And, finally, the Knicks will have new coach, so that situation is not exactly stable. Just looking at the landscape in the East, the Pacers have would been a fairly prohibitive favorite to get back to the Finals. They just took a 68-win team to 7 games, and this was not a fluke. They have an elite team. And on top of all that, they might have the best coach in the NBA. What the worst case scenario if you sit him? You lose the finals nobody expected to win anyway with a team locked and loaded ready to make a run at another championship.

You seem to be forgetting Cleveland who had no injury luck again this season.

People will call them playoff chokers etc but the Pacers run afterwards makes it clear that they needed to be healthy to win that series and it wasn’t just some complete collapse by Cleveland.

Yes Indiana took a 68 win team to 7 games but OKC really wasn’t that impressive this playoffs for a 68 win team. They almost got knocked out by a badly banged up Nuggets team.

I dunno. As a Celtics fan who has watched them be in the top of the East in the Tatum era, I know it’s still damn hard to get to the finals let alone a game from winning it.

To me it’s even harder when your roster isn’t insanely talented and is just extremely well coached like Indiana’s is.

Yes the East is more open next year but other teams are going to make some moves.

Regardless I’m pretty hopeful being a Celtics fan and with Tatum coming back from an Achilles also that they’re not a death sentence like they once were and both players will come back 100%, ready to win the east in 2027.

I edited my post to add them, but the Pacers took 7 of 9 games off them last year. There are just some teams that don't machup well, and the Cavs do not matchup at all with the Pacers. It wasn't just their injuries. Pacers destroyed them in the rs too.

Sure it is difficult to win a championship, but you have to trust the process and your organization. Boston still won a championship, and as an organization if you take off Tatum's injury they are still probably favorites to go the Finals next year with that three-headed monster of Brown, Tatum, and White. In hindsight, knowing what you know now about Tatum's injury, if as in the case of Haliburton you had had some warning that it could happen and you had had the opportunity to hold him out because there was a risk that he would blow out his Achilles or have some secondary traumatic injury, I know that you wouldn't hesitate to sit him against the Knicks.

[Chuck Everett]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

Well, when Giannis had the left calf strain a year ago in the 2024 playoffs, the Bucks held him out of the games, which probably cost them the series against the Pacers. Knowing what we know now, with how he plays, if Giannis had played on it, he probably would have blown out his leg too.

[California Gold]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

A lot of times your body overcompensates for other parts of your body when you have an injury and you put pressure on said injury. It doesn't necessarily need to be "connected". You hear about it all the time with guys tearing ACLs on the opposite knee of another injury where a player maybe was favoring the other leg. I think Derrick Rose actually tore his ACL in that way because he had an injury to his right leg.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Everything is contextual. KD stayed in the West, which is great for the Pacers. Bucks might blow up their team and send Giannis to the West, which would be great for any team in the East considering he's still in his prime. Boston is not going to be competitive next year with their injury situation. Miami traded away Butler and appears to have taken a step back. That leaves a bunch of young teams in Detroit, the Nets, Orlando, and the Raptors. I love Detroit, but they are not ready. Orlando may be a little better, but that's a really inconsistent and spooky team. And, finally, the Knicks will have new coach, so that situation is not exactly stable. Just looking at the landscape in the East, the Pacers have would been a fairly prohibitive favorite to get back to the Finals. They just took a 68-win team to 7 games, and this was not a fluke. They have an elite team. And on top of all that, they might have the best coach in the NBA. What the worst case scenario if you sit him? You lose the finals nobody expected to win anyway with a team locked and loaded ready to make a run at another championship.

You seem to be forgetting Cleveland who had no injury luck again this season.

People will call them playoff chokers etc but the Pacers run afterwards makes it clear that they needed to be healthy to win that series and it wasn’t just some complete collapse by Cleveland.

Yes Indiana took a 68 win team to 7 games but OKC really wasn’t that impressive this playoffs for a 68 win team. They almost got knocked out by a badly banged up Nuggets team.

I dunno. As a Celtics fan who has watched them be in the top of the East in the Tatum era, I know it’s still damn hard to get to the finals let alone a game from winning it.

To me it’s even harder when your roster isn’t insanely talented and is just extremely well coached like Indiana’s is.

Yes the East is more open next year but other teams are going to make some moves.

Regardless I’m pretty hopeful being a Celtics fan and with Tatum coming back from an Achilles also that they’re not a death sentence like they once were and both players will come back 100%, ready to win the east in 2027.

I edited my post to add them, but the Pacers took 7 of 9 games off them last year. There are just some teams that don't machup well, and the Cavs do not matchup at all with the Pacers. It wasn't just their injuries. Pacers destroyed them in the rs too.

Sure it is difficult to win a championship, but you have to trust the process and your organization. Boston still won a championship, and as an organization if you take off Tatum's injury they are still probably favorites to go the Finals next year with that three-headed monster of Brown, Tatum, and White. In hindsight, knowing what you know now about Tatum's injury, if as in the case of Haliburton you had had some warning that it could happen and you had had the opportunity to hold him out because there was a risk that he would blow out his Achilles or have some secondary traumatic injury, I know that you wouldn't hesitate to sit him against the Knicks.

Everything is obvious in hindsight.

As I said in another post NBA players play through all sorts of stuff. More come out unscathed.

It’s impossible to avoid catastrophic injuries sometimes.

Obviously it appears to be in this case that Haliburton was a chance at the Achilles rupture.

I just think we differ in our opinion of the Pacers long term future.

[GrandTheftRondo]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

A lot of times your body overcompensates for other parts of your body when you have an injury and you put pressure on said injury. It doesn't necessarily need to be "connected". You hear about it all the time with guys tearing ACLs on the opposite knee of another injury where a player maybe was favoring the other leg. I think Derrick Rose actually tore his ACL in that way because he had an injury to his right leg.

There’s all sorts of reasons for injuries.

Reality is they’re incredibly hard to avoid playing sport.

You could spend all the money in the world on preventation and things can still go wrong.

It’s a reality of sports because of the explosive movements.

[-Luke-]

You can't deny a player the chance to play for a championship in the NBA Finals. It's another story in the regular season or when you team is up by two in a playoffs series.

But just imagine for a second the NBA had forced Hali to sit in the finals. We would talk about how this series was rigged 50 years from now.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

NBA players with calf strains should not be allowed to play. We’re now 2 for 2 in the Finals on catastrophic injuries from guys trying to push through it, and now Haliburton is down. Wishing him the best, but this absolutely shouldn’t be allowed anymore.

Hali may never be in the finals again let alone a game 7.

Usually I agree but you can't pass up this opportunity because of a calf strain. He'll take the year out for this one opportunity.

I think Don Nelson will always deserve credit for having potentially saved Dirk's career.

[Rainwater]

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical expert but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

A lot of times your body overcompensates for other parts of your body when you have an injury and you put pressure on said injury. It doesn't necessarily need to be "connected". You hear about it all the time with guys tearing ACLs on the opposite knee of another injury where a player maybe was favoring the other leg. I think Derrick Rose actually tore his ACL in that way because he had an injury to his right leg.

There’s all sorts of reasons for injuries.

Reality is they’re incredibly hard to avoid playing sport.

You could spend all the money in the world on preventation and things can still go wrong.

It’s a reality of sports because of the explosive movements.

This is pretty much it. I just feel fans are just drawing conclusions on things they have no clue about.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

It's game 7 of the Finals. Every single player in the league would roll the dice in Hali's situation.

they shouldn't allowed to do it, though

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Hali may never be in the finals again let alone a game 7.

Usually I agree but you can't pass up this opportunity because of a calf strain. He'll take the year out for this one opportunity.

It won’t happen, and I won’t advocate for it, but this is kinda the case for what the op is saying.

Is this the b-ball equivalent to the nfl concussion where it should be out of the player’s hands?

This is a no win for the players. Of course they’re going to play in these situations. It’s a much more interesting debate than I’d initially think.

If you told any player in the NBA they could play in the finals but would miss the whole next season, I'd say 90%+ play in the finals.

It's not causing chronic disease that will severely impact their brain. It's not concussions, concussions I agree.

Haliburton is on a long term contract, not sure it should be just his decision

[Rainwater]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

Well, when Giannis had the left calf strain a year ago in the 2024 playoffs, the Bucks held him out of the games, which probably cost them the series against the Pacers. Knowing what we know now, with how he plays, if Giannis had played on it, he probably would have blown out his leg too.

Nobody has a clue what would happen, there are guys who played with a calf strains and were just fine. Aaron Rodgers in 2015 and Andrew Luck in 2019 are good examples. The point is based off what is said by medical experts there are very little correlations between calf strains and Achilles tears. We are treating freak accidents/coincidences, which occurred 6 years apart, as if they are the norm.

[lambchop]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/


I am not a medical expert, but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up as a freak accident more than anything else.

That's because a calf strain means 2 to 8 full weeks of rest. Rarely do these studies take into consideration athletes who simply continued competing.

In soccer there's essentially no way for guys to continue playing, because of the amount of full sprinting and running involved. In basketball, on the other hand, players can adapt their game and movements to their current physical condition.

[NoStatsGuy]

as much as i dislike the pacers and heliburton. hopefully its not as bad. i wanna beat him next year in the playoffs

[og15]

You can't deny a player the chance to play for a championship in the NBA Finals. It's another story in the regular season or when you team is up by two in a playoffs series.

But just imagine for a second the NBA had forced Hali to sit in the finals. We would talk about how this series was rigged 50 years from now.

Yea, NBA is not making a decision like that, it's up to the teams and players on that kind of decision. Achilles injury is not life threatening like a concussion situation can be.

[sikma42]

He consulted with the medical staff, his family, and the coaching staff.

Everyone was aware of the risk.

Playing on a calf strain is a high probability of becoming a ruptured Achilles. Unfortunately that's what happened to Hali.

I'm not sure about this. They didn't tell KD that it was a risk. Think things may have changed since then but trainers often underestimate the risk of reinjury when they want you on the floor. And it seems like the risk may be a lot higher then we currently understand.

[Mikistan]

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

Well, when Giannis had the left calf strain a year ago in the 2024 playoffs, the Bucks held him out of the games, which probably cost them the series against the Pacers. Knowing what we know now, with how he plays, if Giannis had played on it, he probably would have blown out his leg too.

Nobody has a clue what would happen, there are guys who played with a calf strains and were just fine. Aaron Rodgers in 2015 and Andrew Luck in 2019 are good examples. The point is based off what is said by medical experts there are very little correlations between calf strains and Achilles tears. We are treating freak accidents/coincidences, which occurred 6 years apart, as if they are the norm.

Gee, it's almost like quarterbacks don't have to run full speed or jump, wow, has to be a freak accident yup

[hardenASG13]

https://abc7news.com/amp/kevin-durant-kd-calf-injury-achilles/5342722/

I am not a medical experts but doctors indicate there is no correlation between Calf strains and Achilles tears. I think the only reason people are making the correlation is because it happened to Durant and therefore there must be a correlation. I chalk this up to freak an accident more than anything else.

Well, when Giannis had the left calf strain a year ago in the 2024 playoffs, the Bucks held him out of the games, which probably cost them the series against the Pacers. Knowing what we know now, with how he plays, if Giannis had played on it, he probably would have blown out his leg too.

Nobody has a clue what would happen, there are guys who played with a calf strains and were just fine. Aaron Rodgers in 2015 and Andrew Luck in 2019 are good examples. The point is based off what is said by medical experts there are very little correlations between calf strains and Achilles tears. We are treating freak accidents/coincidences, which occurred 6 years apart, as if they are the norm.

Yeah guys play with strained calfs all the time and don't tear their Achilles. Haliburton did it in game 6. I've done it a bunch of times. Theres no way anyone would sit game 7 of an NBA finals with a calf strain, especially if they played with it the previous 2 games. I will acknowledge this playoffs was crazy with it happening 3 times though. Watching it is likely going to lead to my official retirement from basketball at 41 haha