CHICAGO - Even worse than an ACL tear, a ruptured Achilles is the most dreaded injury in basketball.
Fortunately, modern medicine has advanced in a way where, unlike past decades, an Achilles tear is no longer career-ending, more like career-stalling.
That is the optmism Bol Bol will take with him to New York where Dr. Martin J O’Malley, a magician with a scalpel, will surgically repair what is now believed to be “a full tear” in the TNT import’s left Achilles.
COLUMN: Bol Bol now bound for US to undergo surgery
The team physician of USA Basketball and team orthopedist of the Brooklyn Nets, O’Malley has seen more feet than a shoe store.
O’Malley is the surgeon who operated on the Achilles injuries of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Halliburton.
While Bol is in great, capable hands, his rehabilitation and recovery could still take up to a year.
FAMILY.
And once he completes the process, TNT will be waiting.
“We would love to have him back,” coach Chot Reyes, still reeling from Friday night’s Game Two mishap, told me in a telephone interview late Saturday night.
Even before Bol told him, “I heard something pop,” Reyes knew it was bad.
Experience had educated Reyes that a “non-contact” fall ensued by the inability to put weight on the injured foot, are grim signs.
“At that point, with Game Two still in progress, Chot already asked team manager Jolas to “start making calls to look for a replacement.”
Heavy favorites to defend their championship, Reyes and the Tropang 5G are instead left to wonder what if.
Although his PBA stint was limited to 16 games, the presumptive Best Import of the Conference left a lasting impression.
MISUNDERSTOOD.
Reyes said “he was very coachable,” which was surprising given Bol’s NBA pedigree. You’d think a cat like that would be diva-like and unwilling to listen.
His teammates, a few of whom I’ve spoken to, love him, too.
During a team meeting where issues concerning spreading the ball and being more aggressive on defense were raised, Bol was receptive, not combative.
“All you had to do was tell me and I’ll do it,” Bol supposedly told his teammates.
The lack of engagement with the media and the fans was merely a function of his shyness, which should not be mistaken for rudeness, the former Gilas Pilipinas coach stressed.
Reyes pointed out Bol’s surprise May 9 visit ro a neighborhood court as proof that Bol loves to interact with fans, especially children.
MUTUAL ADMIRATION.
After months of working with him, Reyes had read Bol like a book, seeing him as a fierce competitor who kept to himself and left everything on the court.
Apparently, Bol had grown to appreciate the 11-time champion coach.
Per multiple sources, Bol sent several messages of gratitude to his TNT family including one that praised Chot as “ the coolest coach ever.”
At 7-foot-3, with a 7-foot-8 wingspan and the skills and mobility of a guard, Bol is the most skilled, most high-profile import to ever play jn the PBA.
A star attraction who moved ratings like a tornado, he lured both diehard and casual fans to arenas, TV sets and streaming platforms.
If he’s one and done in the PBA, that’s his greatest legacy.
Bol is still somewhere in the Shangri-La Mandaluyong area waiting for his departure to the US.
I miss him already.
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