Republican presidential candidate suffers injury playing basketball

North Dakota Gov. Burgum tore his Achilles tendon playing pickup basketball Tuesday, but announced that he'll still participate in Wednesday night's first Republican presidential debate. According to the 67-year-old Burgum, it's not his first pickup injury.

Burgum has been North Dakota's governor since 2016. After a long career as a software executive — he sold his company, Great Plains Software, to Microsoft for $1.1 billion. He's also a college friend and Microsoft co-worker of Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, but it's not clear if they have played basketball together.

He plans to tough it out on crutches during the two-hour debate, probably crucial for his name recognition, since he's governor of the nation's fourth-smallest state by population. Generally you want to elevate the injured leg immediately following an Achilles tear, but we are fairly sure debate rules forbid the use of a recliner.

Generally, rehabilitating an Achilles tear takes between nine months and a year, which would mean that with aggressive treatment, Burgum could be back on the court before the Republican National Convention next July in Milwaukee. Burgum is receiving 0.4 percent support from Republican primary voters, so he might be out of the race before he's on the court.

Still, Michael Jordan had his "Flu Game," and now Burgum has his "Achilles Debate." While his mobility might be limited, the injury shouldn't stop him from dunking on Ron DeSantis.