It reminds me of Legend of Korra where after the fight with Zaheer, she struggled to recover both physically and mentally. Even after a full physical recovery, she still felt like she was never the same. It completely broke her.
Has there been an NBA superstar where after one play, he was never the same, both physically and mentally? I know injuries happen but I’m sure there are plays that just seem to kill their confidence for a long time.
Hayward first one that comes to mind
Pre leg snap he was a springy do it all wing who played very confident and just came off a career year
After he came back he was never the same, still a very good player but never had that same athletic ability or energy to his game again
He’s had ankle problems ever since though, I don’t know if you could say that he was physically the same player after his injury.