The playoffs. If democracy, fast food, and the internet weren’t so prevalent in our lives, we at TheSportster would consider the playoffs one of the greatest inventions known to mankind. The drama that builds throughout the season explodes when the playoffs arrive. You’re favorite team is in the playoffs and, as a fan, you’re just pumped to see some epic games.
Our emotions are ripped apart and put together like the materials used for a first grader’s arts and crafts project. It’s a roller coaster of sentiment, like happiness, rage, depression, and enjoyment. When a player comes back from an injury and performs at a high level in the playoffs, it makes your day even better. We wonder how many babies have been conceived because a player went berserk to win the game or put in a gutsy performance to inspire their team to win.
This list is about those players. They could have been injured in the regular season or the playoffs, but as long as they came back, they qualify. The same goes for any players who were injured in the same game and missed some time or was diagnosed with an injury before the contest started. Other athletes that deserve credit but it wasn’t in a playoff setting are Japan’s Shun Fujimoto.
He broke his kneecap during the 1976 Olympics. He then went on to compete in the rings with the injury and ended up dislocating it when he landed, however, he still helped Japan earn a gold medal. The other is Bert Trautmann, a goalie for Manchester City, who helped win the 1956 FA Cup with a broken neck.
Here are the top 15 performances of an athlete coming back from an injury in the playoffs.
15. Willis Reed – 1970 NBA Finals Game 7
via raptorsrepublic.com
If you look at the box score of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, you may ask yourself why Reed is on this list? After tearing a muscle in his right thigh in Game 5 of the Finals, Reed would miss Game 6, but to everyone’s surprise (including the L.A. Lakers), he would limp onto the court for Game 7. Reed did only hit two baskets, but those two baskets were the Knicks first two of the game. The performance may not be that impressive in the stat sheets, but his grit inspired the New York Knickerbockers to win the Finals.
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