Inventory: Tatum is just the latest NBA superstars who suffered from Achilles tendon injury in the 2024-25 season

Jason Tatum is the latest NBA player to suffer from a torn Achilles tendon in the 2024-25 season.

Injuries are never a good thing. During the 2024-2025 NBA season, the number of players suffering from Achilles tendon-related injuries unexpectedly surged.

The growing list now includes Jason Tatum. The Celtics star tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the second round against the New York Knicks. He now joins the ranks of five other players suffering similar injuries this year, which further increases the pressure on the league to shorten the regular season.

Damian Lillard

Lillard's injury was about two weeks before Tatum. Long before the playoffs began, it was a question whether Lillard could play due to deep vein thrombosis in his right calf (DVT).

He missed 15 games (14 regular season games, 1 playoff game) and did not make a sudden comeback until his second game against the Pacers. Unfortunately, in the first quarter of Game 4, Lillard's season came to an end after trying to grab an offensive rebound.

Dezontae Murray

New Orleans Pelicans traded Dezontae Murray last offseason, hoping to get a point guard with both offense and defense, so as to achieve their goal of building one of the strongest outside defense teams in the league. Instead of continuing the decline in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, the Pelicans have been plagued by injuries from the beginning.

Murray missed the first 17 games of the season due to a hand fracture. After 31 games, he suffered a non-contact leg injury in the first quarter against the Celtics and was eventually diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon.

Drew Smith

Drew Smith was fighting for his next NBA contract. He is a two-way player for the Miami Heat and wants to prove to everyone that he has fully recovered after suffering an ACL torn last season.

In the second quarter of his 2024-25 season, the God of Basketball has other arrangements for Smith. It was another contactless Achilles tendon laceration, and Smith fell to the ground after conceding the ball while trying to get rid of Brooklyn Nets guard Keon Johnson.

Isaiah Jackson

Isaiah Jackson's playing time with the Pacers has been sporadic. However, in contract year, Jackson was determined to win his next contract. But in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the season, Jackson was inappropriate in landing while fighting for rebounds, and an MRI test showed a torn right Achilles tendon and was reimbursed for the season.

James Wiseman

The injury was painful this time. James Wiseman has been plagued by injuries in his career, but this time the injury may be the last straw that crushed him. In the first game of the Pacers' season against the Pistons, Wiseman had to end the season early due to a torn Achilles tendon.

Before the 2025 NBA trade deadline, the Pacers trade Wiseman to the Raptors in exchange for a cash and a protected draft pick with the top 55 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. After the deal was finalized, the Raptors immediately cut Wiseman.