# @dr.tlesh on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DeJEIUjBy9G
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71293327-drtlesh-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/bffef68bb2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-10-06T05:48:36.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Tyler Lesher (@dr.tlesh) — https://gondola.cc/dr.tlesh

## Caption

Ariel Hukporti, noncontact, right Achilles. Imaging is today. No diagnosis yet, so everything below is what we think through, not what we know.

The mechanism: he closes out, plants, and the leg gives way with nobody near him. That false step is the classic setup. The calf loads the tendon hard while it lengthens, and a tendon with weak spots fails under a load it normally handles.

What it could be:
Complete rupture: sudden “kicked in the back of the leg” feeling, can’t push off.
Partial tear: pain and weakness, but some fibers still hold.
Calf strain: pain sits higher in the muscle belly, tendon intact.
Tendinopathy flare: gradual, stiff, sore, rarely a sudden collapse.

What the clinician checks:
Thompson test: squeeze the calf with him face down. No foot flexion means a likely rupture.
Palpable gap in the tendon above the heel.
Weak single leg heel raise.
Together these beat any one finding. Ultrasound or MRI confirms it.

If it is a rupture: surgery and nonoperative care now land close on rerupture when early loading is used. Rehab runs in phases: protect, load early, rebuild calf strength, then run, cut, jump. Strength and hop testing decide return to play, not the calendar.

Credit to the medical staff for the fast, calm exit. More when we know.

References (PMID):
Maffulli, Am J Sports Med 1998, 9548122
Willits, J Bone Joint Surg Am 2010, 21037028
Soroceanu, J Bone Joint Surg Am 2012, 23224384
#athletictrainer #athletictraining #nba #sportsmedicine

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## Tags

nba, athletictrainer, athletictraining, sportsmedicine

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