Los Angeles Lakers: Xavier Henry Tears Achilles’ Tendon
By Shane Young
In Monday’s practice, the Los Angeles Lakers were running rudimentary 3-on-3 drills. Combo guard, Xavier Henry, caught a bad break during the drills when he hit the floor in obvious pain.
Explaining to trainer Gary Vitti that he heard and/or felt a “pop” in the back of his foot, Henry held on to his foot hoping for the best. At that moment, all that’s really racing through your mind is the “what ifs” of the scenario. It’s just human nature to think of the worst possible outcome, which would be a broken bone in your foot … or a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.
After undergoing an MRI right after it occurred, Henry was told the devastating news.
He had torn his Achilles’ tendon, quite possibly the most important element of your body from the knees down.
Per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Lakers’ head coach Byron Scott observed the injury right as it happened.
“Nobody hit him or anything like that,” Scott said. “He went down and pretty much said to us that he heard a ‘pop.'”
Those non-contact injuries are really devastating, considering you didn’t do anything tragic or wrong in nature by colliding with another player. It’s just the terrible luck from the basketball gods raining down on the Lakers. If you remember, it was 319 total missed games (due to injury) from the Lakers last season. That ranged from Kobe Bryant‘s knee injury, to Steve Nash‘s nerve root irritation, even to Henry’s bone bruise in his knee.
This season hasn’t been quite as horrific for them as a team. Bryant has missed one game, and you knew what the eventual outcome would be for Nash before the year started. Nick Young (thumb) finally returned after missing the first 10 games of the season. Ryan Kelly (hamstring) will likely be out six weeks after playing in just three games.
However, for Henry as an individual, this is the worst news for any athlete to ever hear. Or, feel, for that matter.
Torn Achilles’ tendons are typically found in older, aging athletes. When guys have been playing for more than 10 years or so, they are suspect to their bodies breaking down and deteriorating. It’s not to say that torn Achilles can’t occur for players that are under age 30, it’s just that it’s not as common.
Take Isiah Thomas, for instance. He tore his Achilles at the age of 32, during his 13th and final season of his career.
Dominique Wilkins also tore his at the age of 32, in his 10th season, but made a miraculous comeback into stardom again.
Chauncey Billups managed to tear his Achilles at a much older age (35), during his 15th season. He, too, made a comeback attempt, but it wasn’t effective at all. The most points he averaged after his tear was 8.4, and only played 19 minutes a game.
Last but not least, take Henry’s current teammate for instance.
Kobe Bryant will probably always be the most famous face attached to the torn Achilles’ tendon injury now, since his was the most recent. At age 34, Bryant suffered a third degree tear of the left Achilles. Kobe, however, was in his 17th season as a pro, and something just had to prove that he was actually human.
Xavier Henry is just 23 years old. He’s only in his fifth season out of Kansas.
Henry has only played in 185 career games as a pro, compared to the 995 average games played of those veterans listed above (Bryant, Billups, Thomas, Wilkins). It shouldn’t be happening to such a young kid that’s tried so hard to become relevant in the NBA again.
But, Bruce Almighty said it best. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
If you’re in the NBA, it seems as if everyone will be doing a lot of crumbling. Injuries are at an all-time worst for the league in the last two years, and nobody can fully understand it. Medicine is far better in today’s game. Trainers are more experienced and knowledgeable. Players are just naturally more fit and healthier than they used to be.
Yet, people keep dropping like flies.
For Henry, this equals complete and utter sickness.
He had just been trying to get back into the swing of things, especially after missing training camp due to surgery. Henry went through off-season surgery to repair his wrist and his knee, so he was already trying to get comfortable playing again.
Byron Scott didn’t use him much in the rotation because of the large amount of downtime Henry had in the summer. The backup shooting guard did play in nine games, but only averaged 9.6 minutes per game this year. Of the 13 shots he attempted while in the games, he only connected on three (23.1 percent).
It’s just been an all-around frightening summer and fall for Henry, who hasn’t been able to enjoy anything since March. That was the last time he was able to perform healthy for the Lakers, and he averaged nearly 11 points per game during that month.
Now, it’s just going to be an uphill battle for the young man. The good news has to remain that he’s not even in his mid-20’s yet. There’s still a load of time for him to get things on the right path for success.
It can’t hurt when he can use Kobe Bryant as a mentor, and ask the Mamba to guide him through intense rehabbing sessions when he’s cleared to do so.