The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a massive setback in the game against the Denver Nuggets as Donte DiVincenzo has been diagnosed with a torn right Achilles Tendon. Donte DiVincenzo will miss the season as there is a long recovery period and that will take a huge hit on the starting squad of the Timberwolves. The non-contact injury, which occurred at the 10:41 mark of the first quarter, was immediately considered by medical experts as a classic Achilles rupture. These fears were confirmed hours later by Shams Charania, who reported a torn right Achilles. For DiVincenzo, who had been a model of reliability playing all 82 regular-season games, the diagnosis marked a heartbreaking end to a standout season where he averaged 14.3 points in the postseason.

Also Read | “Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is really something”: Ian Bishop opens up on Rajasthan Royals player’s future

The injury has reignited a chilling "curse" theory that has haunted the league over the last two playoff cycles. Every high-profile player to suffer an Achilles tear in the 2025 and 2026 playoffs has worn the jersey number 0. DiVincenzo, who donned the 0 for Minnesota, becomes the fourth All-Star caliber player to fall victim to this specific injury while wearing the number. This was once dismissed as just a mere coincidence but now people have started to consider it as a serious superstition. The "Curse of the Zero" continues to claim the league's most durable and explosive stars.

 

Timberwolves star becomes latest victim in alarming trend of Achilles tears linked to No. 0 in NBA playoffs

The trend began in earnest during the 2025 postseason, where three elite players were sidelined by identical injuries. Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks was the first to fall, tearing his Achilles on April 27, 2025. Weeks later, Boston’s Jayson Tatum suffered the same fate during the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 12. The trifecta was completed in the NBA Finals when Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton collapsed in Game 7. All three players wore #0, leading fans to dub the number "cursed" after seeing eight total Achilles tears across the league that year.

DiVincenzo’s injury follows a similar non-contact mechanism seen in the 2025 cases, where a simple push-off leads to a sudden rupture.Donte provided elite floor spacing for Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Without him, defenses can collapse more easily on Minnesota's stars. He was often tasked with guarding the opponent's best perimeter player. Minnesota will now have to lean more heavily on Nickeil Alexander-Walker or rookie depth to fill those minutes. Losing a starter this late in the year forces the bench into high-pressure roles they may not be prepared for, significantly shortening the Wolves' rotation for a deep playoff run.

While medical professionals point to the compact NBA schedule and excessive workload as the logical reasons, the social media narrative has focused on the creep jersey connection. As the Timberwolves look to Ayo Dosunmu to fill the void, the league is left grappling with the reality of losing another star to a recovery process that typically spans a full calendar year.