4 NBA Stars Who Tore Their Achilles While Wearing No. 0
A strange pattern has quietly turned into a talking point across the NBA. Over the last two postseasons, four prominent players suffered Achilles injuries while wearing jersey No. 0. What started as coincidence now sits in an uncomfortable space between workload reality and superstition. With the playoffs once again testing bodies to the limit, the number itself has become part of the conversation.
- Krishna Sagar
- 4 min read
Numbers in basketball usually mean something simple. Points. Rebounds. Assists. They help tell the story of a game. Of a season. Of a career. But sometimes, a number starts telling a different story.
Not through stats. Through patterns. And lately, the number 0 has been attached to something far more unsettling. It did not happen all at once. There was no announcement, no moment where the league stopped and took notice. Just one injury. Then another. Then another.
Each one serious. Each one involving the same part of the body. Each one happening when the stakes were highest. Playoff basketball. That is when rotations tighten, minutes go up, and players push through fatigue. It is also when the margin for error disappears.
And over the last two years, that environment has seen the same outcome repeat itself in a way that has been hard to ignore. Four different players. Four different moments. One shared detail. Jersey No. 0.
1. Damian Lillard (April 2025)
The first instance did not feel like a pattern. It felt like bad luck.
During Game 4 of a first round matchup, Lillard went down without contact. One step. One push. Then he was on the floor, grabbing at his left heel. The moment was jarring.
Lillard has built a reputation on durability and late game brilliance. He is known for delivering when it matters most, not for leaving the floor early. That made the scene harder to process. The diagnosis confirmed the worst. A torn Achilles.
At the time, it was viewed as an isolated incident. A tough break in the middle of a demanding series. No one connected it to anything beyond the usual risks of playoff basketball.
2. Jayson Tatum (May 2025)
Then it happened again. Weeks later. Bigger stage. During the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Madison Square Garden, Tatum collapsed on a non contact play. There was no defender involved. No awkward collision.
Just a sudden stop. Tatum stayed down. The arena went quiet. For a player who had carried the Boston Celtics through multiple postseason runs, it was a shocking sight.
He had been building momentum. The team had expectations. And in an instant, everything shifted. Another Achilles tear. Another player wearing No. 0.
At that point, people started noticing.
3. Tyrese Haliburton (June 2025)
The pattern became impossible to ignore in the Finals. Game 7. The biggest stage of the season. Haliburton, the engine of the Indiana Pacers, went down early in the game.
It happened quickly, without contact, in a way that looked familiar by then.
Too familiar. The Pacers lost more than just a player in that moment. They lost their control of the game. Their rhythm. Their leader. And the impact extended beyond that night.
Haliburton missed this entire season. Three injuries. Same type. Same jersey number. What once looked like coincidence now felt different.
4. Donte DiVincenzo (April 2026)
Then came the fourth. Almost exactly a year after Lillard. Game 4. First round. Early in the contest.Timberwolves’ DiVincenzo had barely settled into the game when it happened. A quick movement. A step that did not look unusual at first. Then he dropped.
He reached for his lower leg immediately. The diagnosis confirmed it. Another Achilles rupture. Another player wearing No. 0. The timeline made it even more striking. Just over a year. Four major injuries. All in the postseason.
As the 2026 playoffs continue, attention has shifted. Not officially. Not from teams or the league. But from fans. Players who still wear No. 0 are being watched differently. Tyrese Maxey remains one of the most explosive guards in the postseason. His pace and constant movement make him a central figure in his team’s offense.
Russell Westbrook quietly moved away from the number, switching to No. 18 after joining a new team. The decision had its own reasoning, but in this context, it has drawn attention. Jalen Green has also moved to a different number, citing personal significance and a connection to stability. None of this confirms anything. But it shows how perception evolves.