As Jayson Tatum prepares to embark on possibly the most challenging year of his life, he must look to Kevin Durant for inspiration.

The latter suffered a ruptured Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, only to return a better all-around player. 

Pre-Achillies, Durant averaged 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists at 49/38/88 shooting splits in 849 regular-season games. Post-Achilles, he has averaged 27.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists at 53/41/88 shooting splits in 271 regular-season games.

The sharpshooting forward has seen significant upticks in points, assists and efficiency, defying the odds and proving wrong the foot specialists who estimated he'd never be the same player again. Not only did Durant not lose a step, but he amazingly returned as a more polished player, especially with his playmaking and off-ball skills. 

Charles Barkley believes Tatum's first phone call should be to Durant, the symbol of hope for players recovering from the Achilles.

"If I'm Jayson, I call Kevin Durant," Barkley said. "Durant is six years removed from the time he blew out his Achilles, and he's still a hell of  a player. That's the first person I'd call: 'Hey, tell me about what's going to happen. How to start the rehab?' Obviously, he has his own doctors, but the best teacher is experience." 

The death knell of hoopers

For years, the Achilles injury has been viewed as the death knell for a basketball player, and understandably so. Former All-Stars DeMarcus Cousins, Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups and Elton Brand all regressed considerably after enduring the injury. 

Brand saw his numbers dip precipitously, with his points (20.3 to 9.9), rebounds (10.2 to 6.3) and blocks (2.1 to 1.2) all crashing post-Achilles. Bryant, who was 35 when he suffered the injury, also saw his points (25.5 to 18.9), rebounds (5.3 to 4.4) and assists (4.8 to 3.9) dip a lot after the devastating injury. Cousins and Billups struggled to contribute even as role players after the catastrophic injury. 

Dominique Wilkins, before Durant, was an anomaly, as he fully recovered from the injury. Much like Durant, Wilkins returned with a bang, averaging 25.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 312 games after the injury, seeing only a slight dip from his pre-Achilles stats. 

Modern medicine will give Tatum advantages that his past peers may not have had. That he's only 27 is also an encouraging sign, given that Wilkins (31) and Durant (30) were slightly older when they endured the injury. It shouldn't be all doom and gloom for the C's and Tatum. Injuries are a part of sport, and there's no reason to believe Tatum won't return every bit the elite player he's been in his young career.