In a Sunday evening match-up against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers’ All-NBA Forward Anthony Davis re-aggravated an already injured right Achilles’ Tendon on a drive to the basket. He has missed 2 games earlier in the week and last week for a sore Achilles’ and had played in only a select few games for the Lakers.
Considering it is only February and the second time in 10 days or so he’s injured his Achilles’, I can anticipate he’s going to be out for an extended period of time to get him as healthy as possible.
The development of his Achilles’ Tendon injury could have been sustained back in December. He missed a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
You can see in the video below that as he limps off the court, his right foot is not able to plantar flex. The reason, the Achilles’ Tendon is what allows plantar flexion (through Gastrocnemius and Soleus contraction) to happen.
As previous highlighted in other short articles, the Achilles’ Tendon allows for the Gastrocnemius and Soleus muscles to attach to the calcaneus (heel) bone. Remember the Achilles’ is a blend of the Soelus and Gastrocnemius muscles. The Achilles’ is what allows for athletes to push off the ground and transmit the force up and down the kinetic chain.
The Achilles’ Tendon also acts as a stabilizing mechanism for when we walk or run when it’s not being used to allows us to push off the ground.
One of the factors that influences recovery from an Achilles’ Tendon strain is the location. Is the source of the discomfort in the muscle belly, of either the Gastrocnemius or the Soleus, or is it in the tendon itself. Another question that needs answer, is the source is from the Achilles’ itself, is where. Is it closer to the heel or is it closer to the musculotendinous junction (where muscle transitions to tendon).
What also delays the healing is that a tendon does not have a rich blood supply comparatively to muscle. Tendons need to be strong to transmit force from the muscle to the joint to allow for movement.
As previously stated, I believe he is going to be sidelined and in street clothes for the next several weeks as he undergoes treatment and rehabilitation. There is no need to be aggressive with his rehabilitation, in terms of rushing him back in a few weeks. It’s important that they allow him an adequate amount of time to recover. That does not mean he is just going to Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate (RICE). It means he’s going to have to play an active role in his rehabilitation.
He’s obviously plays an important role as the Lakers look for their second consecutive championship and it is vital he’s prepared for April, May, June than February, March, April.
UPDATED: 2/15/2021: 10:30 PM.
I was going to post this tomorrow morning but like the rest of the world, updates from the NBA world previously confirmed my thoughts, that Anthony Davis was going to miss an extended amount of time. Which was confirmed this evening through a series of tweets by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.