Three Achilles injuries in one NBA postseason: What’s going on and how is it fixed?

Tyrese Haliburton laid on his stomach with just over five minutes left in the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, pounding the floor as emotions poured out of him. 

Not this. 

Not now. 

Anyone who has closely followed the playoffs knew Haliburton suffered an Achilles injury without needing to go to medical school or seeing the official results of an MRI. We saw the same crushing look in Damian Lillard's and Jayson Tatum's eyes this postseason. We witnessed their faces contort with the anguish of knowing that a year of their careers would be stolen from them and that they may never be the same. We saw their pain as they writhed on the floor, not even trying to stand. 

This season, seven players have suffered torn Achilles tendons, including Indiana's James Wiseman, New Orleans' Dejounte Murray, Indiana's Isaiah Jackson and Miami's Dru Smith, along with the three stars who sustained the injury during the playoffs.

Dr. Nirav Pandya, a professor of orthopedic surgery at UC San Francisco, said that's an alarming uptick, especially considering over a 32-year span from 1990-91 to 2022-23, there were only 45 NBA players who ruptured Achilles tendons, according to a study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 

"I think it's pretty remarkable that we're seeing that much of a change in this injury," Pandya told me. "It used to just be the weekend warrior, end-of-career athlete getting them."

Pandya believes there are three reasons why the injury is becoming more prolific.

Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum are two NBA superstars who suffered Achilles injuries in this postseason. (Getty Images)

One: The game has become more explosive and aggressive than it was in the 1980s and '90s. Two: The NBA schedule has