The Warriors saved their season with a hard fought win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but it came with a big price tag for one of the game’s best players. Kevin Durant, Finals MVP from a year ago, left the game after aggravating a calf injury, and early reports are that the team believes he may have torn his Achilles.
Durant originally suffered a lower leg injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals and had not played since, but with the Warriors on the brink of losing the Finals, he tried to gut it out and play through discomfort. It’s clear now that it was the wrong move, as he likely suffered a much more serious injury last night.
When Durant suffered the initial injury, the team classified it as a calf injury, but because of some of the factors surrounding the injury, including how close to the belt they were keeping the injury news and how early he was ruled out for future games, many speculated that the Achilles tendon may actually be the source of the injury. It’s clear that he didn’t suffer a full tear of the Achilles in the Conference Semifinals, but now speculation is even more rampant that there was an underlying Achilles injury based on the suspected news of a fully torn Achilles.
Durant Has MRI Coming
Durant is set to undergo an MRI later today to confirm the injury, but all signs are pointing to an Achilles injury. In fact, if we pull up an old blog on NFL running back Brandon Oliver and compare it to the video of KD’s injury, the mechanisms of injury look eerily similar. Oliver was diagnosed with a torn Achilles after suffering the injury you see below. (You might have to watch it on Youtube instead of just clicking the video below).
Kevin Durant’s injury
https://twitter.com/TheRenderNHL/status/1138272423260897280
Hopefully it ends up just being a calf injury, but if it looks like an Achilles tear and the team fears an Achilles tear, it’s probably an Achilles tear.
It’s a huge blow for Durant, who is set to become a free agent this offseason and was all but guaranteed a maximum contract offer from one if not multiple teams. It’s crazy to think that he’ll still likely get a maximum deal, but there’s a good chance he misses a large portion if not the entire season next year. His suitors will pay the price even if it means they won’t get his full potential in the first year, but whoever ends up signing him can’t be happy about how the Finals played out this year.
Durant is the reigning back-to-back NBA Finals MVP and has an NBA MVP trophy in his collection, so he clearly has the drive and work ethic to make a full recovery from whatever malady he’s diagnosed with, but hopefully his next team will really take time to ease him back onto the court, because we don’t need to rush him back out and see another setback. Wishing him the best with his MRI and treatment.
