As we all know, Durant has been in very good shape since his comeback.
So far this season, Durant has averaged 28.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, including 40+ in the past five games, averaging 33.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game – it's hard to imagine that this is a player who returns after a ruptured Achilles tendon.
However, not all players with Achilles tendon injuries can return perfectly like Durant, or the vast majority of players with Achilles tendon injuries will suffer a cliff-like decline, such as what we are going to talk about today - Rodney Hood.
Hood's name is sure that many fans will not be unfamiliar, in the 2019 playoffs, Hood can average 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists in the second round, helping the Blazers successfully eliminate the Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference Finals. It was also for this reason that Hood got a two-year, 16 million extension from the Blazers, when many people expected Hood to be able to perfectly assist the double gun.
In the following season, Hood did get more playing time and reached the peak of his form, however, just as he was playing better, an Achilles tendon injury struck - in last season's game against the Lakers, Hood only played 9 minutes before suffering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, which was a full year.
This season, Hood has officially returned, but compared to Durant, who has also suffered a major Achilles tendon injury, his form can be said to be very bad:
Before the Achilles tendon injury, Hood averaged 11.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game
So far this season, Hood has averaged only 4.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game
Before the injury, Hood's offensive efficiency reached a career high, shooting 49.3% from three-point range and 62.5% from the field, and after the injury, Hood's efficiency fell off a cliff, shooting as low as 36.2%, shooting 30.1% from three-point range, and only 45.2% from the field.
In order to reinforce and reinforcements, the Blazers finally couldn't help but give up on him, in a trade before the trade deadline, Hood was sent to the Raptors, and his role was only to match - this really can't blame the Blazers for being ruthless, on the contrary, the Blazers are absolutely interesting enough for Hood, and after the tendon injury, they still offered him a two-year 21 million contract, but unfortunately Hood did not prove himself again.
And that's not the worst.
In the last Raptors game against the Grizzlies, Hood suffered another injury, when the game went to the fourth quarter, Hood injured the palm of his hand in a scramble, the post-game diagnosis came out, Hood suffered a fracture of the second metacarpal bone of his left hand, and if nothing else, his season is over.
During his time for the Raptors, Hood played a total of 17 games, averaging only 12.7 minutes per game, and the data was only 3.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists - Hood had previously signed a 2-year, 21 million contract with the Blazers, but the second year was non-guaranteed, considering his injury and condition, the Raptors were very likely to cut him in the offseason, and in the worst case, Hood might have no ball to play and leave the league completely.
To be honest, we really feel sorry for Hood, he is a very ambitious player, in the 2017-18 season, he once turned down a 4-year, 70 million contract offered by the Jazz in order to play his own fame.
And after the Cavaliers had a less successful season, Hood finally found a suitable role for himself in the Blazers two years ago, but who would have thought that his career was just on the right track, it was ruined by the Achilles tendon rupture, you know, now he is only 28 years old, and hopes that next year he can make a comeback and prove himself again.