In the NBA’s 74 seasons, there are only …

In the NBA’s 74 seasons, there are only 44 players known to have torn an Achilles tendon, 10 of whom are active today. J.J. Barea, DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Wesley Matthews have all returned from the injury with varying levels of success, while Hood joins Kevin Durant, Darius Miller, David Nwaba, Dwight Powell and John Wall as players still on the comeback trail. That small group has turned into something of a basketball fraternity, as players who’ve never been teammates find themselves connected by a shared experience. “I know guys look at me for advice,” Hood said. “I reach out to Kevin Durant or Wesley Matthews, DeMarcus Cousins … the guys who have been through it, and I just get confident more and more every day.”