The pace and speed of the small ball era are fast, and the high playing time of the star has caused frequent injuries.

Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point Feng Zihan

On May 14, the Boston Celtics officially announced that the star Tatum successfully underwent a right Achilles tendon rupture repair surgery. He has no clear return schedule yet, but he is expected to recover completely. The official statement conveys the value of positive emotionality, but everyone knows that Tatum's injury has been recovering from a long period of time and the future is full of uncertainty.

Entering the playoffs, the league ushered in a wave of injuries, from Morant and Lillard to Mitchell, Curry and Tatum, they were injured one after another. The injury of the main player not only directly affects the team's record, but also makes the league's box office appeal insufficient.

The outside world generally believes that Tatum's rupture of the Achilles tendon is directly related to his long-term high playing time.

Since entering the league in 2017, Tatum has played in the total number of regular season and playoffs games, ranking first in the league, and has averaged more than 40 minutes of playing time in the playoffs for two consecutive years. His playoff career has played a total of 4,725 minutes. In NBA history, only Larry Bird and Horrice Grant have played more playoffs than Tatum in the first eight seasons of his career.

Decades ago, it was common for stars to play 82 games or to play more than 40 minutes per game. Now, Tatum has become the sixth NBA official contract player this season to suffer from an Achilles tendon tear, setting a new high since the 2014-2015 season.

Are the players now becoming weak? Obviously not.

The real reason is that the current style of play is very different from before: more rounds, more intense confrontations, and higher risk of injury. Data shows that in the 2000-2001 season, the league averaged only 91.3 rounds per 48 minutes, with the highest being less than 95. This season's playoffs, the Grizzlies, with the highest number of rounds, have more than 102 times, and the lowest magic has also been 90.4 times.

In addition, this year's playoff schedule is particularly compact, playing a game almost every day, including flight time. Players don’t get enough rest and have to participate in high-intensity events continuously. This is like a car that has been driving at high speed, without the opportunity to maintain, and the failure rate will be greatly increased.