Would love to see those pre and post Achilles injury MRIs. Hard to imagine the 2 injuries are totally unrelated but I guess anything is possible.
If KD has a mid calf strain, totally normal muscle/tendon beyond that, then an Achilles tear.... that would be very weird but maybe he’s just really unlucky.
But if he had a distal calf tear at the muscle-tendon junction that extended distally to the Achilles you can’t really claim they’re totally unrelated.
I also wonder if there was some intervention at the distal calf after the initial injury, people doing all kinds of PRP and even steroid injections (not a good idea if you ask me) to get pro athletes back sooner. But that’s 100% thinking out loud.
Just wanted to echo others' thanks for all these great medical insights, Rad. Really hard to find elsewhere.
Whether we count this as two distinct injuries or one: after a very durable start to his career, KD's track record of lower-leg issues through his late 20s and into his early 30s is now officially a bit worrisome.
Aug 2014: Jones fracture in right foot, missed two months after surgery
Dec 2014: Injured ankle
Dec 2014: Sprained toe
Feb-Mar 2015: Second surgery after continued discomfort in surgically repaired right foot
Mar 2017: Grade 2 MCL strain and tibial bone bruise (this one fluky, as it was caused by Zaza's giant melon falling into his planted leg)
Apr 2017: Strained calf after returning from MCL, missed two games in opening round v POR
May 2019: Grade 2 calf strain
Jun 2019: Ruptured Achilles
Still .... if I'm the Warriors I throw the 5 year / $220M max at him on day one of free agency and try to blow other offers out of the water. Write next season off (and maybe get the DPE to use on a Rudy Gay type?) Knock wood, but elite length + elite shooting seems like it should age well; and even if he only gets to 85% of his peak self, I think he could approximate age 31-35 Dirk Nowitzki, who was easily a max player. (At their peaks he's the significantly better scorer, passer, ballhandler, defender than Dirk, so could lose a bit and still be about that level, imho).
Of course, I'm sure he'll get other offers too (not 5/$220M, but the max 4/$160M allowable to other teams), so if he's even a little bit pissed at the Ws med staff I think we can presume he'll move on. Either way, here's (secular) praying for the speediest and most complete recovery possible.