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The 2020-21 NBA season was dramatic in terms of injuries around the league, especially among star players. The LA Lakers' 2020-21 campaign was derailed by injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, with the injury bug also hitting several teams in the NBA Playoffs, including the champions Minnesota Timberwolves.
For the 2021-22 NBA campaign, many talented injured players will be back, and will look to have a huge positive impact for their teams. Klay Thompson, who has missed the last two seasons for the Golden State Warriors, is expected to return to action this campaign.
Thompson's return last year would have made the Golden State Warriors contenders for the championship, but he suffered an Achilles tear just before the campaign started. For the upcoming season, the Warriors could receive a huge boost from Thompson's return, but it remains to be seen if the player hits the ground running.
Many superstars, such as Bill Walton and Grant Hill, have been unable to perform at the same level after injuries hindered them for a long time, while Kevin Durant is the most recent example of the opposite situation.
On that note, here are five NBA players who were able to make successful comebacks from long-term injuries. Without further ado, let's get started.
#5 Paul George
Paul George has been in the NBA since 2010. Although he has missed many regular-season games in the last two years, PG was a durable player in the early part of his NBA career.
Unfortunately, George suffered a career-threatening injury while playing for Team USA in the 2014 FIBA World Cup. He was coming off leading the Indiana Pacers to consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In a Team USA scrimmage on August 1st, 2014, George sustained a fracture in the tibia and fibula on his right leg after crashing against the stanchion of the basket while playing transition defense.
George underwent surgery that same night, and returned to NBA action on April 5th, 2015. He played the final six games of the 2014-15 season, and has since played 414 games with averages of 23.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game with a 44/39/85 shooting split.
He has also made it to five All-Star Games, finished third in the MVP voting after the 2018-19 campaign, and received four All-NBA selections and two All-Defensive selections.
#4 Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry is one of the biggest superstars in the current NBA and also an all-time great player. However, he had to fight through ankle injuries early in his career, before turning into a world-beating superstar.
After helping the Golden State Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals and three NBA titles between 2015 and 2019, Curry had to endure a long-term injury again.
Just after starting his 2019-20 NBA campaign, Curry suffered a left-hand fracture in only the fourth game of the regular season. The injury practically ended Curry's and the Warriors' season, as the team was already without superstar guard Klay Thompson after the latter's knee injury in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Curry ended up playing only five games in the 2019-20 NBA season, after returning late in the regular season, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Without Curry and the rest of their core, the Warriors struggled. and did not make the 2020 NBA bubble.
Stephen Curry went from March to December without playing NBA basketball, but managed to put up arguably his greatest regular-season campaign in 2020-21. Although the Golden State Warriors narrowly missed the playoffs, Curry won the NBA scoring title after scoring 32 points per game with a 48/42/91 shooting split.
He also averaged 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in 63 appearances for Golden State during the season. Apart from taking his second scoring title, Curry made the All-Star Game and the All-NBA first team too.
#3 Larry Bird
Just after the Boston Celtics' run of four straight NBA Finals between 1984 and 1987 ended with a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 1988 ECF, the franchise's dynasty started to see its end early in the 1988-89 season.
Larry Bird, arguably one of the three most influential players in NBA history (clearly one of the two most influential during the 1980s, along with Magic Johnson), had a relatively short career. Physical fitness back then was not at the level it is today, and Bird was already 23 during his rookie season, which meant he didn't have a long career.
In the sixth game of the 1988-89 regular season, Bird played only 16 minutes against the Miami Heat on November 15th, 1988, before his Achilles snapped. Bone spurs on both his Achilles required surgery, and Bird had to miss the remainder of the campaign.
Before the injury, Bird had averaged 29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game in the 1987-88 season. At the age 33, he returned for the 1989-90 campaign and put up 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game in 75 appearances. Bird finished only tenth in the NBA MVP voting in his comeback season, but he did show that his basketball skills were not hindered by injuries.
He averaged 19.7 points, nine rebounds and seven assists per game in the next two seasons combined before retiring from the NBA in 1992. He had three All-Star appearances after his Achilles surgery in the 1988-89 season and one All-NBA selection.
#2 Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan's only major injury of his NBA career came in his sophomore season with the Chicago Bulls. Coming off an unbelievable rookie campaign (averaging 28.3 points per game), Jordan managed only 18 games in the 1985-86 season, with minute restrictions (and only starting seven of those regular-season matches).
A fractured bone in his left foot was the reason for Jordan's absence from most of the 1985-86 Chicago Bulls' games in the regular season. Nevertheless, the team managed to enter the NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed in the East, albeit with a dismal 30-52 record, 37 games off their playoff rivals Boston Celtics (67-15).
The Celtics predictably swept the Bulls in the first round, but Jordan put up performances for the ages in the first two games. In Game 1, he scored 49 points on 50% shooting, but Boston won by 19 points.
In Game 2, Jordan had one of his most iconic games, scoring a postseason record 63 points after making 22 of his 41 field goals. He also had six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks while playing 53 minutes in the double-overtime game, but Boston again managed to eke out a narrow win.
Jordan could not lift the Bulls over one of the greatest teams in NBA history (maybe the greatest), but Jordan's comeback was definitely a success. Considering almost all the key achievements of his resume came long after his 1985 injury, there's no denying that the foot issue was only a small bump in Jordan's illustrious career. He won six NBA Championships and as many finals MVP awards, among many other accolades.
#1 Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is not the only player on this list who fared better on the basketball court after a long-term injury. However, not many expected Durant's return to be as successful as it turned out to be in the 2020-21 NBA season at the age of 32.
KD looked like a truly refreshed player who seemingly could not do anything wrong on the court, and it was impossible to tell that he missed over a year and a half of action.
The voices calling Kevin Durant the greatest player in today's NBA were loud even when he was sidelined with an Achilles tear suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals. After missing an entire season (18 months), Durant's return with the Brooklyn Nets (a new team) had many eagerly waiting in anticipation of what he could conjure, and he showed his greatness quickly.
Even though he played only 35 games in the 72-game regular season, Durant averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, with a 53/45/88 shooting split.
Then, he had a brilliant run in the NBA Playoffs until the Nets were eliminated by eventual champions Milwaukee Bucks in the second round. Durant had two games that were historical against the Bucks, putting up 49 points in Game 5, with 17 rebounds and ten assists, and only 23 attempts from the field.
In the deciding Game 7, Durant put up 48 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and made a game-tying shot to send the match to OT to save the Brooklyn Nets' season, at least in regulation.
Durant's successful return to the court after a long absence is surprising. It could give players like Klay Thompson the belief that he can also return at a great level after missing more than two years.
KD is one of the biggest candidates for the MVP award in the 2021-22 NBA season, proving his return has been a resounding success.
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