Dallas Mavericks center Dwight Powell is the latest NBA athlete to suffer the dreaded Achilles tendon rupture. It is a devastating blow for Dallas.
It happened as abruptly as Achilles tendon injuries tend to.
The Dallas Mavericks had just initiated their offense by sending guard Tim Hardaway Jr. cutting nonchalantly off a mild-mannered screen from center Dwight Powell. Powell, who after setting the screen subsequently opened to face the lane, received a soft pass from All-Star teammate Luka Doncic. Recognizing that his defender — Clippers’ center Montrezl Harrell — was sagging off and standing relatively flat-footed at the elbow, Powell made his move. He pushed off forcefully with his right foot, immediately fell to the ground, and, as he did so, turned to see who had the audacity to foul him by kicking the back of his knee.
Unfortunately for Powell and the Mavericks, no one was there.
The surprising lack of another body and the intense wave of pain seemed to hit him simultaneously; Dwight Powell had torn his right Achilles tendon.
I’ve written previously about Achilles tendon injuries here, here, and here — I encourage you to check out those articles for a more in-depth discussion on the devastating injury — but allow me to summarize quickly:
Grade three Achilles tendon strains — also known as a rupture or complete tear — most often occur as a result of an intense, acute increase in force directed through the tendon; this usually happens during what is known as the amortization phase, when the Achilles tendon rapidly transitions from an eccentric to a concentric contraction. During an eccentric contraction, the calf muscle and Achilles tendon lengthen while they contract whereas during a concentric contraction the same structures shorten during the contraction.
This is exactly what occurs with Powell’s injury. As can be seen in the linked video, Powell’s right foot quickly transitions from dorsiflexion — the foot “pointing up” — to plantarflexion — the foot “pointing down” — both of which are controlled by the calf muscles through the Achilles tendon. Powell’s Achilles wasn’t able to accommodate the burst of force, which caused it to rupture.
The return-to-play timeline for Achilles tendon repairs is usually in the 9-12 month range, though it isn’t uncommon for the recovery to take longer. NBA athletes are often able to return to game action, however, it can take one or two seasons before they feel as though they have returned to their previous form. As the Achilles tendon heals after surgery, new collagen — the substance that constitutes human connective tissues — replaces the damaged tissue. This new collagen is denser and isn’t able to generate or absorb the same amount of force that the old Achilles tendon was able to. The end result is that athletes often aren’t able to generate as much power as they could prior to their injury. This is perhaps the most prominent reason why NBA athletes’ performance tends to decline after they rupture their Achilles.
Much like with Portland’s Rodney Hood, what makes Powell’s injury so devastating is that he was in the midst of arguably his best season as a professional. According to NBA.com/stats, Powell was averaging career highs in minutes per game (26.5), field goal percentage (63.8), rebounds per game (5.7), steals per game (0.9), blocks per game (0.6), and plus/minus (+195). The Dallas Mavericks had a +8.9 net rating when Powell was on the court and a +10.4 net rating when he and Doncic shared the floor.
The Mavericks, who are having a surprisingly successful season, currently find themselves as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, where three games separate them from the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz and seventh-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Powell will be entering his age-29 season next year, which will also be the first under his three-year, $33 million extension.