Will teams stop letting players play with calf soreness?

[JustinVerlander07]

After these playoffs it feels relevant. Gilbert Arenas is saying both Lillard and Tatum said they were dealing with calf soreness before tearing their Achilles and we all know about Haliburton. This also dates back to Durant with the Warriors rushing back and tearing his Achilles.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...20yes%E2%80%9D

It is comendable these guys try to play through it but are teams going to start being more careful with their stars (or anyone) trying to play with a sore calf? Seems like a death sentence at this point to tearing your Achilles.

[Nomad]

Who was going to argue with Haliburton after Game 6? I made the argument before that game that we would both win that home game and be better positioned for Game 7 if he took a rest. Carlisle knows his injury management stuff. Unfortunately, Ty now overrides team executives. Or did. Now he's on a Lillard/Durant journeyman track.

[Archangel1775]

I think in general, yes. But in a Game 7, you gotta go until you cant. You may never get another chance again.

[Nomad]

That's the worst way to look at it when you 25 and riding a team effort. He was more likely, as it turned out, to win the ring without playing.

Do individual flowers matter more than a team championship and a long, prosperous career? Maybe he is just as happy to have a year of schmoozing without the ring.

You don't play when you are one bad move away from a torn ACL because you care about more in the sport than yourself.

No excuses, as Haliburton will be the first to say.

[kipgen]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

I think in general, yes. But in a Game 7, you gotta go until you cant. You may never get another chance again.

I would agree if it were an injury where you're only out for the series. With an achilles, it's the next year they're out as well, minimum. At that point it's best for everyone involved that they not play.

[TimBuckTwo]

Don't know. I had an overweight O-4 in my Nav squadron bust his Achilles in a gym game and he came back strong.

[Nomad]

Did he have multiple hammies and four years of 82-game professional basketball under his belt?

Not saying it won't happen. The Pacers physical rehab staff is considered among the very best.

[Asian62150]

Originally Posted by kipgen

I would agree if it were an injury where you're only out for the series. With an achilles, it's the next year they're out as well, minimum. At that point it's best for everyone involved that they not play.

If Haliburton wasn't effective, that's one thing. But he played well in G6. If the coaches didn't think he could help them win, he would have sat (hopefully).

If anything, he probably should have sat G5 after the initial injury took place. Maybe playing TJ more gets the Pacers over the hump and they have a chance to win it all in G6.

But you never know when you're going to have another chance like this. It was heartbreaking to see Hali get hurt like that but that's part of the game. Hope he makes a quick recovery.

[Nomad]

TJ wasn't really the key. They key was tweaking the formation that they perfected around Mathurin when Nesmith and Nembhard went out late last year (Caitlyn Cooper talked about it at length on her podcast). They could have really created a strong trio around that identity if they had time and effort to game plan it.

McConnell could have continued to do his off-the-bench thing with Shepard and Obi, which is dialed in. Really, they needed Walker as well, so what am I saying.

[ninjacookies]

No way they wouldn't let him play, even if they knew the risks. He bought that privilege with his 4 ties/go aheads in the previous rounds.


Plus imagine the public optics and backlash from a move like that. Sure, it ended in a worst-case outcome, but it's game 7 of the Finals. These athletes get paid to play in the postseason, not to operate off fear or what ifs.

[drobfan8]

Even minor calf tears are a week of rest. Not 2 or 3 days.

If you're gonna play injured, you can't be doing the same things and putting that load on it. Which is near impossible at the highest level.

Now he's done for a year.

Tough one. Horrible timing because if it's during the season they take 2 weeks off and rest and train and you're good.

I guarantee he didn't get through a full training session between games.

[Nomad]

Anyway, last year's Celtics was a better team than this year's Thunder and the Haliburton-less Pacers had two close games that they let slip in the last minutes.

[SK40]

Who's telling Hali that he isn't playing game 7 of the NBA Finals? Come on, dude was playing unless his foot needed to be amputated.

[mfisher27]

Originally Posted by SK40

Who's telling Hali that he isn't playing game 7 of the NBA Finals? Come on, dude was playing unless his foot needed to be amputated.

Seriously



Right or wrong, this board and every talking head would eviscerate him had he sat out with "a sore calf".

Quotes aren't to diminish the injury, just that that's all I heard it being called prior to tearing his achilles. Phrasing it like that only adds to the perception that's it's something he could play through.

[kipgen]

Originally Posted by mfisher27

Seriously



Right or wrong, this board and every talking head would eviscerate him had he sat out with "a sore calf".

Quotes aren't to diminish the injury, just that that's all I heard it being called prior to tearing his achilles. Phrasing it like that only adds to the perception that's it's something he could play through.

That's true, but going forward with this in context I think coaches/fans will be more willing to let players sit if they know what's at stake

If there's a pattern forming with calf soreness and achilles injuries whereas before it seemed relatively random and unknowable then it makes sense for coaches to hold players out for the good of the team