Tatum s rebirth begins with reconciliation with himself

What is the hardest thing to recover if a professional player is seriously injured? There is no doubt that it is the player's own mental level. Anxiety, shadows, frustrated confidence, etc.

NBA regular season has entered the countdown. Recently, Tatum accepted an exclusive interview with People magazine and revealed that he had considered retirement after being seriously injured.

"The sound was like a gunshot. I still dare not look back at the scene of my injury. I fell to the ground and kept shouting, 'No, no, it can't happen to me.' I was rolling on the ground and slapped the ground. I knew clearly what was wrong with my feet."

"I collapsed, I was always anxious whether I could go back to the past. I was only 27 years old. I once felt that I could do everything, but my mentality changed after being injured."

"I cried for 2 hours after being injured, and thoughts flashed countless times in my mind, 'My career will be Is it over? Will the team give up? Will all the partners abandon me? ’ It feels like they were taken away together. ”

"I even told my mother that I may not be able to play basketball anymore, and my career may end. My mother understands my situation very well, and she has been actively encouraging me to try to get me out of the haze. It was a nightmare experience. ”

A torn Achilles tendon or a ruptured Achilles tendon is indeed one of the injuries that a professional player fears the most. Last season alone, at least 8 players suffered misfortune, including Tatum, Halliburton and Lillard. However, judging from the current medical level and rehabilitation conditions, rupture of the Achilles tendon is not the "end point of life", but it will somewhat become the "turning point of the play style".

In 2019, Durant, who had just turned 30, played with an injury in the finals and eventually suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.

2018-2019 season (before injury), averaged 26 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. However, I think he is quite special because of his playing style and height and wingspan advantages, the impact he has brought about after returning from injury is relatively small. He joined the Nets in the 2020-2021 season, averaging 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage even broke through a career high to 53.7%. Since then, the league has maintained a 25+ performance in three seasons.

Adu does not rely on pure explosive power, and its original core advantages can still be retained. However, the lateral movement speed was significantly slowed down, and in order to protect the Achilles tendon, it also reduced the straight sprint of the fast attack counterattack. In 2013, 34-year-old Kobe had an all-around statistic with a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2012-2012 (before the injury) averaged 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.0 assists per game.

After returning from the 2014-15 season, the average of only 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the two full seasons, respectively. The shooting percentage dropped sharply from 46.3% before injury to 41.5% (2014-15) and 35.8% (2015-16)

The once omnipotent Little Pan has also begun to transform. The "breakthrough dunk" and "fast attack one-handed dunk" that have been easily controlled have become fewer and fewer, the explosive power has decreased, and the startup speed has dropped by about 30%. Try to transform into an offensive method with back-to-body singles + back-turn jump shot as the core.

The strength of the Achilles tendon causes more pressure in other parts (leg muscles, knees) to bear some chain reaction, and the shooting stability has a significant decline compared to before the injury.

In June 2019, in Game 6 of the Finals, Klay Thompson was injured and the ACL ruptured. In November 2020, after undergoing recovery training, his right foot was hit hard again after improper force, and his Achilles tendon was ruptured. The interval between the two injuries was only 17 months, and they were concentrated in the core parts of the lower limbs, which was equivalent to allowing his "running, jumping, emergency stop, and change direction" ability to undergo a "double blow". The difficulty of recovery is far greater than that of Durant, who has a single Achilles tendon rupture, lies in his heart, which is also what a top shooter has. After his comeback, he had a brilliant performance, but overall it was still unstable. The lower limb strength is not as stable as before due to physical energy consumption. Even if it is just a shooter, the shooting will be seriously affected and the offensive methods are more single. Among these people, Tatum had a relatively young time when the Achilles tendon ruptured. He was somewhat similar to Durant in terms of offensive skills. Compared with the "flying and hiding" styles such as Kobe and Westbrook, Tatum also relies on his shooting feel. Having a slight transformation in the style of the game, I can still play at the peak, but the way is different.

But what we need to do now is to adjust our mindset. If possible, I think it is the most suitable person to learn from Clay.

Do you think Tatum can return to the peak after his comeback?