Kobe Bryant, your favorite high-functioning sociopath and mine, tore his Achilles tendon Friday night during a win against the Warriors. We’ve been hearing about “torn Achilles” for years now, but for most fans, the operational definition of the injury remains ambiguous.
You hear a player has torn an Achilles, and you assume he’ll be out for a year or so, and that he probably won’t be as fast or explosive when he comes back. That interpretation isn’t necessarily wrong, but it elides a lot of the real complications and effects of the injury.
Full Story: How An Achilles Tear Affects NBA Players (Or, Why Kobe Is Screwed)