Over the course of their careers, many NBA players have had to deal with injuries that prevent them from performing at their best. The grind of years of playing 82 regular-season games and more playoff games takes its toll on their bodies, and can result in injuries that rob them or months or years.

Instead of helping their teams win games and titles, NBA players instead spend long periods of time recovering from these injuries, and some are never the same even when they return on the court. But there are also times when players suffer injuries and play through the pain and stay in the game just to be able to help their teams. These instances sometimes even happen when the stakes are highest and their teams need them the most.

In fact, some of the most memorable and compelling moments in the NBA, whether in the regular-season or playoffs, involve players battling through injuries and willing themselves to play. Here are five injuries that NBA players have overcome through the years to create unforgettable moments:

5. Dislocated elbow – Rajon Rondo, Game 3, NBA 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr5cfJ6FxHw

He has since played for six different teams and even won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, but Rajon Rondo is still best remembered for his time with the Boston Celtics, where he played his first eight-plus seasons. Aside from helping them win the 2008 NBA title, he also provided them with a lot of memories that prove his toughness as a player that made him a beloved Celtic.

One of those moments happened in Game 3 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the ascendant Miami Heat. With the Heat up 2-0 in this NBA playoff series, the Celtics needed a win to avoid falling down a 3-0 hole. In the third quarter, Rondo got tangled up with Heat guard Dwyane Wade and dislocated his left elbow, which would have kept him out for the rest of the game. But after briefly going to the locker room, Rondo returned to the court and re-entered the game in the fourth quarter to raucous cheers from the TD Garden crowd.

The point guard helped the Celtics secure a 97-81 victory over Miami to get back into the series. He rarely used his left arm for the rest of the game, but still found a way to help Boston, and finished with six points, three rebounds, and 11 assists. The Heat defeated the Celtics in the series, 4-1, but Rondo’s inspiring performance is still a great example of an NBA player doing whatever it takes to help his team.

4. Broken foot – Kevin McHale, 1987 NBA Finals

Kevin McHale played 13 seasons for the Celtics and is regarded as one of the greatest power forwards in league history, and yet he probably could have played longer if not for an injury that he suffered and played through in the 1987 NBA Finals. After beating the rising Detroit Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics found themselves facing their rival Lakers in the Finals, with each team winning one previous championship meeting.

With the Lakers featuring Hall of Famers like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, the Celtics needed McHale, and he ended up playing all six games of the NBA Finals. But he did so while enduring a broken foot that he first injured earlier in the season and was described as a stress fracture.

Nevertheless, McHale was still Boston’s second-leading scorer in the series next to Larry Bird, averaging 20.5 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and one block in the series while playing an average of 38.5 minutes. The injury became so bad that he reportedly had to use a patio chair from the hotel pool as a walker, and yet he played heavy minutes for the Celtics.

The Lakers would end up winning the series and the NBA title, 4-2, and McHale would undergo surgery after the season. But his heroic performance stands the test of time and is one of the most memorable in Celtics history.

3. Torn thigh muscle – Willis Reed, Game 7, 1970 NBA Finals

If there’s one player who is most remembered for playing through injury when the stakes were highest, it is New York Knicks big man Willis Reed. After suffering a torn muscle in his right thigh in Game 5 of the 1970 NBA Finals, Reed missed Game 6, and the Lakers were able to take a victory and force a winner-take-all Game 7.

There were questions on whether or not he would play, but all those concerns vanished when he limped from the Madison Square Garden tunnel and took shots while warming up with his teammates. He would score the game’s first two baskets, which were his only points in Game 7. But it was more than enough to inspire the rest of the Knicks, which beat the Lakers, 113-99 to win the franchise’s first NBA title, with Reed being named as the Finals MVP.

Aside from inspiring his teammates, Reed also had to play defense on NBA icon and Lakers center Wilt Chamberlain despite his injury. He did, limiting Wilt to 21 points, a sub-par performance by his standards. He may have scored just four points, but Reed's defense, leadership, and mere presence were more than enough to help inspire his teammates.

2. Sprained ankle and dislocated finger – Isiah Thomas, Game 6, 1988 NBA Finals

43 points, three rebounds, eight assists, and six steals in 44 minutes. Those numbers are incredible for a player to have even when fully healthy, but Isiah Thomas actually finished with those numbers while playing through a broken ankle and dislocated finger in Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Lakers.

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He sprained his ankle with 4:21 left in the third quarter, but returned with 3:46 left and ended up having one of the greatest performances in Finals history by the end of the period. The Pistons’ point guard scored 14 straight points in the quarter and 25 overall to keep Detroit in the game. They would have a chance to finish off the Lakers and win the title in the waning seconds, but Los Angeles emerged victorious, 103-102, and forced a Game 7, which they also won to repeat as NBA champions.

Nevertheless, Thomas’ Game 6 performance and his unbelievable third quarter while playing on a sprained ankle and dislocated finger remains one of the gutsiest performances in NBA history.

1. Torn Achilles – Kobe Bryant, 2013 regular season

Longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti called it Kobe Bryant’s “gutsiest moment ever,” which is saying a lot considering what he achieved throughout his 20-year career. Achilles injuries are known as one of the most devastating in sports, and those who suffer from it do not always return as the same player.

In fact, the Achilles injury Bryant suffered on April 13, 2013 against the Golden State Warriors altered the rest of his NBA career, and he retired three years later. But playing through this devastating injury and helping his team captures what the Black Mamba is all about.

With the Lakers needing a win over the Warriors to strengthen their NBA playoff hopes, Bryant did all he could to help the team. But on a routine drive, he crumpled to the floor and clutched at his foot. At that point, Bryant had already hyperextended his knee and sprained his ankle, but this turned out to be a torn Achilles injury.

Nevertheless, he got up and shot two free throws to finish with 34 points and help the Lakers secure a crucial win and they would eventually make the playoffs. The moment came in the NBA regular season, but it was as indelible as any moment in Bryant’s career and demonstrates what Mamba Mentality is.