Kevin Durant Achilles Injury Mega-Thread (Keep discussion here, please)

[Mr Loggins]

Permanent black mark for the Warriors franchise. This just sucks.

Nope.

i’d bet this will be somewhere on players minds. That those venture capitalist greedy little piggies that own the warriors pressured KD to play.

not saying that’s what happened....but it’ll be in their minds and other teams will sell that narrative

[MrPerfect1]

Who do people think was the Biggest loser from All of this:

-Kyrie? He was supposedly following Durant in FA. Does he now join Lebron? Sign for 1 year and follow KD next year? Try to follow Davis??

-BKN/NYK? Both made moves to clear room for max cap space believing they had a chance for KD/Irving. Do they still sign both and cross fingers?

-GS? The Durant injury could potentially cost them multiple titles if he had planned on returning

-Clippers? At times there have been rumors of a Kawhi + Durant team up. Now, they could possibly end up with neither? This could be a complete disaster for them.

-Any team trading for Davis. With Durant out, now Davis becomes the key player for teams to try for. Maybe now Kyrie wants to play with AD?

**My vote for biggest loser is BKN. Their recent trade made it look like they had huge plans coming up in the off season. Now what do you do? You don't want to just replace Russell with Irving and call it a day. Would Kyrie even go somewhere by himself? Probably not??

[dhsilv2]

Well, did the doctors clear him? I mean it has to be on them ultimately. The guy had a calf injury and clearly playing on it lead to this which is pretty bad, but you never know with these things.

No, we do know.

Several people who saw Kevin practice said he had no business being on an NBA court -- Jalen Rose included, who expressed as much on national television. When the Warriors officially ruled it a calf injury, many had doubted the legitimacy of the report due to the fact KD unequivocally grabbed his lower Achilles against Houston; the same exact spot he grabbed today. Couple tonight's injury that with the fact Kerr, "had no idea", supposedly, of Kevin's progression through the injury, or a SPECIFIC timetable for his return, and it looks like an intentional misinformation campaign by the Warriors. It just smells like Kevin was "cleared" after great "convincing" to get him on that court for the sake of another ring.

Either KD was lead astray by the medical staff, or he was in on the misinformation campaign. I sincerely hope the Warriors didn't put KD's career on the line for a ring. To me, this entire ordeal smells fishy.

It was a lower calf injury. KD isn't stupid enough to have gone out there with an achillies injury. He felt he could play and the doctors cleared him. This coverup crap is beyond ridiculous. Doctors aren't going to risk their medical license for some stupid cover up.

[Slacktard]

I think Durant's injury will lead to a shorter NBA season because I think many more players are going to take injury diagnosis and return from injury into their own hands.

We're going to see A LOT more of Kawhi Leonard type handling of injuries going forward. The NBA is going to be forced to make substantial changes to deal with this.

[garrick]

I can't stand KD and how boring the NBA has become because of his move, but dude was literally in a lose lose situation.

If he didn't play, people would have doubted his love for the game and said stuff like, he never cared for the Warriors and wanted the world to see that they can't win without him.

He played while most likely not 100% healthy and maybe ruined his remaining career if it is really an achilles tear. I hope it's only a partial tear (if that is possible) and he will be close to full health when the next season starts.

Who cares about such silly criticism.

I mean, Vince Carter used to get criticism for having "no love for the game" by not playing through injuries in his prime.

At the end of the day, it has extended his career massively.

Now, Vince is 42 years old and will become historic for playing most NBA season ever.

It's a shame on how Durant doesn't have a thicker skin for outside criticism like Vince had.

In the end you are judged by how many rings you have, I'm sure VC would have sacrificed longevity over winning a championship if it meant him losing a few years of his career.

[Sinobas]

Why is wrong with Bob Myers? He's crying like Kevin Durant fell over dead on the basketball court. He just hurt his achilles, I'm sure he will survive.

[Drygon]

I can't stand KD and how boring the NBA has become because of his move, but dude was literally in a lose lose situation.

If he didn't play, people would have doubted his love for the game and said stuff like, he never cared for the Warriors and wanted the world to see that they can't win without him.

He played while most likely not 100% healthy and maybe ruined his remaining career if it is really an achilles tear. I hope it's only a partial tear (if that is possible) and he will be close to full health when the next season starts.

Who cares about such silly criticism.

I mean, Vince Carter used to get criticism for having "no love for the game" by not playing through injuries in his prime.

At the end of the day, it has extended his career massively.

Now, Vince is 42 years old and will become historic for playing most NBA season ever.

It's a shame on how Durant doesn't have a thicker skin for outside criticism like Vince had.

In the end you are judged by how many rings you have, I'm sure VC would have sacrificed longevity over winning a championship if it meant him losing a few years of his career.

I guess Robert Horry (7 rings) is better than Michael Jordan (6 rings)....

Vince's great longevity is one of the biggest reasons why he'll make into hall of fame.

I'm sure he wouldn't trade it for a few meaningless rings.

[John Murdoch]

Reminded me so much of when Kobe went down . Prayers up to KD hate when the top tier players cant all compete at once , he will bounce back

[Sinobas]

It was a lower calf injury. KD isn't stupid enough to have gone out there with an achillies injury. He felt he could play and the doctors cleared him. This coverup crap is beyond ridiculous. Doctors aren't going to risk their medical license for some stupid cover up.

Actually doctors of professional teams do this kind of thing all the time. Just listen to ex-nfl players talk about how they would get drugged up to play through injuries.

[DG88]

This is a horrible look on the Warriors clearing KD to play to get that 3peat. The day before he had ice on his Calf and Achilles. That to me said he must have had a tear. To allow him to play because they would probably have lost the championship just cost him his long term health.

[dhsilv2]

It was a lower calf injury. KD isn't stupid enough to have gone out there with an achillies injury. He felt he could play and the doctors cleared him. This coverup crap is beyond ridiculous. Doctors aren't going to risk their medical license for some stupid cover up.

Actually doctors of professional teams do this kind of thing all the time. Just listen to ex-nfl players talk about how they would get drugged up to play through injuries.

That's not the same thing as a cover up. It's also not always doctors who are injecting pain killers...

[lambchop]

Who cares about such silly criticism.

I mean, Vince Carter used to get criticism for having "no love for the game" by not playing through injuries in his prime.

At the end of the day, it has extended his career massively.

Now, Vince is 42 years old and will become historic for playing most NBA season ever.

It's a shame on how Durant doesn't have a thicker skin for outside criticism like Vince had.

In the end you are judged by how many rings you have, I'm sure VC would have sacrificed longevity over winning a championship if it meant him losing a few years of his career.

I guess Robert Horry (7 rings) is better than Michael Jordan (6 rings)....

Vince's great longevity is one of the biggest reasons why he'll make into hall of fame.

I'm sure he wouldn't trade it for a few meaningless rings.

This. Plus losing the ability to play sucks.

[SecondTake]

The Raptors reaction was pretty shocking, but in light of what Durant has done I think we can all understand why they reacted the way they did, even though it was still the wrong thing to do. I believe that he will make a near full recovery since he's young, and such a combination of height and lightness. This does look really bad on GSW though.

[LKN]

Well, did the doctors clear him? I mean it has to be on them ultimately. The guy had a calf injury and clearly playing on it lead to this which is pretty bad, but you never know with these things.

No, we do know.

Several people who saw Kevin practice said he had no business being on an NBA court -- Jalen Rose included, who expressed as much on national television. When the Warriors officially ruled it a calf injury, many had doubted the legitimacy of the report due to the fact KD unequivocally grabbed his lower Achilles against Houston; the same exact spot he grabbed today. Couple tonight's injury that with the fact Kerr, "had no idea", supposedly, of Kevin's progression through the injury, or a SPECIFIC timetable for his return, and it looks like an intentional misinformation campaign by the Warriors. It just smells like Kevin was "cleared" after great "convincing" to get him on that court for the sake of another ring.

Either KD was lead astray by the medical staff, or he was in on the misinformation campaign. I sincerely hope the Warriors didn't put KD's career on the line for a ring. To me, this entire ordeal smells fishy.

It was a lower calf injury. KD isn't stupid enough to have gone out there with an achillies injury. He felt he could play and the doctors cleared him. This coverup crap is beyond ridiculous. Doctors aren't going to risk their medical license for some stupid cover up.

I agree on the coverup.... but it certainly could have been misdiagnosed.

Either his achilles injury randomly happened and had nothing to do with the previous injury or the medical staff made a horrific mistake by clearing him to play

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

It looks like now the warriors are going to pay Durant 31 million to rehab. I suppose that is the risk they took when they cleared him to play.

Still think that Irving goes to Brooklyn and KD joins him the following season.

[Froob]

I hope this changes the narrative about Kawhi Leonard situation with the Spurs. Guys should never come back until they're ready.

Media and RealGm posters have already changed that narrative just like you did right now.

Spurs never forced Leonard to play injured.They shut him down in the 2017 playoffs and they wanted to shut him down in the 2018 season before the playoffs.

Leonard didn't want to be shut down and that created tension with his teammates (the tension with the Front Office was already there since 2016 for reasons other than basketball).

What were the other reasons? Any truth to that they wanted him to take less money?

[Froob]

It looks like now the warriors are going to pay Durant 31 million to rehab. I suppose that is the risk they took when they cleared him to play.

Still think that Irving goes to Brooklyn and KD joins him the following season.

You don’t think somebody else is willing to pay him to rehab?

[mademan]

Medical staff clearing him and then him suffering a severe injury on a non contact, routine move is absolutely a terrible look for the warriors organization. Be it either incompetence on their part or willful negligence

[dhsilv2]

No, we do know.

Several people who saw Kevin practice said he had no business being on an NBA court -- Jalen Rose included, who expressed as much on national television. When the Warriors officially ruled it a calf injury, many had doubted the legitimacy of the report due to the fact KD unequivocally grabbed his lower Achilles against Houston; the same exact spot he grabbed today. Couple tonight's injury that with the fact Kerr, "had no idea", supposedly, of Kevin's progression through the injury, or a SPECIFIC timetable for his return, and it looks like an intentional misinformation campaign by the Warriors. It just smells like Kevin was "cleared" after great "convincing" to get him on that court for the sake of another ring.

Either KD was lead astray by the medical staff, or he was in on the misinformation campaign. I sincerely hope the Warriors didn't put KD's career on the line for a ring. To me, this entire ordeal smells fishy.

It was a lower calf injury. KD isn't stupid enough to have gone out there with an achillies injury. He felt he could play and the doctors cleared him. This coverup crap is beyond ridiculous. Doctors aren't going to risk their medical license for some stupid cover up.

I agree on the coverup.... but it certainly could have been misdiagnosed.

Either his achilles injury randomly happened and had nothing to do with the previous injury or the medical staff made a horrific mistake by clearing him to play

It could have been misdiagnosed though given they had a month to work with him, that's unlikely. Anytime someone has an injury they're more likely to get another one. I was honestly half expecting him to blow out something on the other leg if something did happen. This is certainly unfortunate and clearly in hindsight he shouldn't have played. Then again I don't know the FULL requirements of clearing someone to play. It's doubtful being cleared means you're risk free. As long as the risks were discussed with all involved and KD and his team were fully on board with there being risks, well that's generally something people love in sports.

I've never had an injury like his so I can't really relate but wouldn't shock me at all if to avoid putting pressure on his calf that he used his tendons to stop is momentum more than normal. You naturally look to avoid pain and often that can change how you move, how you land your feet, how you plant your feet, and how you stop. I've certainly done that with my back back in my younger days in the gym and I'm still paying for it. But this is speculation from someone with no real credentials or expertise in the field so it should be like many posts here where people are playing not just doctor but specialized doctor...ignored.

[ItsThatEasy]

I can't stand KD and how boring the NBA has become because of his move, but dude was literally in a lose lose situation.

If he didn't play, people would have doubted his love for the game and said stuff like, he never cared for the Warriors and wanted the world to see that they can't win without him.

He played while most likely not 100% healthy and maybe ruined his remaining career if it is really an achilles tear. I hope it's only a partial tear (if that is possible) and he will be close to full health when the next season starts.

Who cares about such silly criticism.

I mean, Vince Carter used to get criticism for having "no love for the game" by not playing through injuries in his prime.

At the end of the day, it has extended his career massively.

Now, Vince is 42 years old and will become historic for playing most NBA season ever.

It's a shame on how Durant doesn't have a thicker skin for outside criticism like Vince had.

In the end you are judged by how many rings you have, I'm sure VC would have sacrificed longevity over winning a championship if it meant him losing a few years of his career.

Responses like this mean you either don't actually keep up with the NBA or you're just arguing to be right. VC has mentioned numerous times he just loves playing in the NBA, he could've signed with GS 3 times over by now, there is absolutely no credibility to the idea that he would sacrifice longevity for a ring.