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

[GusT15]

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?

If we are to talk about factual things that have been reported and are historically accurate,the tension first started when they asked Leonard to sign his first contract extension a year later than he was supposed to for cap space flexibility.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/10/29/7091211/spurs-kawhi-leonard-contract-extension

Reports were that Kawhi's camp didn't like that request at all but agreed with the guidance of former agent Elfus who was fired in the coming years.
Elfus was considered to accomodate the Spurs FO and ownership and to have a good relationship with them.

Spoiler:

As far as rumors go,there have been whispers of incidents and disagreements between Ownership (the actual family) and Dennis Robertson on more than one occasions.
There are also rumors that Spurs wanted a discount and the ownership was refusing to commit to the Supermax.

There were reports that Spurs actually offered the Supermax but those came to surface after the trade request so many perceived them as damage control/the last effort to mend the relationship.

These are just rumors,i repeat,but then again with a team like the Spurs in situations like these over the years you don't even get to listen to the rumors.They just bury everything and not talk about it

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[LKN]

We'll never know the answer to this.... but I do wonder if Durant would have been cleared to play if he was 27 in the first year of a 4 year max deal or something like that.

[Crunch 99]

Just curious, are there any potential legal consequences associated with this event, meaning a legal argument and lawsuit contending that the Warriors medical staff gave Durant bad advice, or are all the NBA teams well protected from any potential legal liability for injury? I am pretty certain it is the latter, that NBA teams, unlike the rest of private industry, are well protected from legal liability, but just wanted to confirm that. I don't recall hearing cases in the past where a player has sued.

In the Warriors defense, I would guess they probably gave him the best medical advice money can buy, and only in hindsight, do we know the advice was probably the wrong advice. Doctors are far from infallible.

[NeoDragonKnight]

One of the questions that I think and we will never know, is if KD was signed for another 2 years after this, would they have allowed him to play? Did the fact they know he was most likely leaving after next year play a part in their decision to green light as they wont be responsible for him after a week? Durant knows his body better than anyone, but at the same time, the team has to protect him from himself.

[dlts20]

Wrong.

If anything, Durant himself fecked up by not sitting out without the risk to aggregate injury.

That being said, Warriors also deserves a fair share of criticism for allowing him to play.

So what you are saying is that the Warriors did fail him by allowing him to play?

Durant had a calf-injury that required months to recover and Warriors still let him play like nothing.

This incident could've easily been prevented.

Meh. Most people are competitors. MJ would have played, Kobe would have played, and even myself would have played. I am a competitor and I would love my brothers and teammates enough to sell out, also like Looney is doing. Guys do it in the NFL all the time. If it's on the line and you have a chance then you go for it

You can be a competitor without being a fecking idiot to play through serious injuries.

Hindsight is 20/20. He or the team obviously didn't think that he would blow it or he wouldn't have played

[Matty]

it doesn't matter who was leaking those BS reports on KD, it's on that entire locker room now.

If they really cared about their brother's future and want him there they should pressure Warriors ownership to sign the man up for the Max and not a dollar less. If KD is willing to stay long term the Splash brothers should give Joe Lacob and management an ultimatum; sign him up or trade us.

He came out and risk his body and career for y'all, that's the very least you should do for a guy whose brought you 2 NBA titles.

KD earned his max regardless. Somebody's gotta vouch for that.

[Gooner]

He has a player option.

[dlts20]

Stop overreacting. KD's not a bum. He will still get a max anywhere he wants. You think the Clips or the NY teams are going to low ball someone that can bring them back to relevance

[Guest202]

We'll never know the answer to this.... but I do wonder if Durant would have been cleared to play if he was 27 in the first year of a 4 year max deal or something like that.

Hell. No.

[LKN]

I really do think that all the top guys are going to think twice about listening to any team's medical staff without a 2nd opinion from their own guy from now on. This certainly could be a situation where Durant was really unlucky and sustained an unrelated injury... but the optics are just bad. Given how much money is at stake now; I wonder if star players are going to become more conservative in coming back injury.

I mean I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this is one of the worst injuries in NBA history considering what a great player Durant is (or sadly was). Yeah Kobe had an achilles too, but he was near the end of his career anyways and in the big picture the injury (IMO) didn't have a huge impact on his career as he was close to being done anyways.

[Guest202]

Just curious, are there any potential legal consequences associated with this event, meaning a legal argument and lawsuit contending that the Warriors medical staff gave Durant bad advice, or are all the teams well protected from any potential legal liability for injury? I am pretty certain it is the latter, that NBA teams, unlike the rest of private industry, are well protected from legal liability, but just wanted to confirm that. I don't recall hearing cases in the past where a player has sued.

In the Warriors defense, I would guess they probably gave him the best medical advice money can buy, and only in retrospect, do we know the advice was the wrong advice. Doctors are far from infallible.

I’d love for KD to sue and for his lawyers’ discovery process to poke around the GM’s cell phone and email and see if his PR apparatus was feeding reporters all these stories over 4 weeks to stoke the come back narrative, down play injury, and pressure KD thru social/media.

[NBAFan93]

He has a player option.

For one year. So he gets 30M to rehab most of next season and then what? Teams gonna offer him a 4 year max assuming he’s going to be the same? He might get a max, but will he get 4 ?

Cousins injury took like 11 months before he could play again... That’s May 2020 on the same timeline for KD, and many think Cousins was rushed back cause he also got reinjured. Heck Cousins probably shouldn’t be playing now either.

[draftbarnes]

Kd and Kawhi were the two difference making free agents

This just takes the air out of free agency

[jimmy_smith]

The NBPA need to step up, player's being exploited by an organization to risk their own career need to be stop.

GSW set the narrative that KD is not hurt.
Tell us everyday that KD can come back next game like 2 weeks ago, tell us he will play game 4 or not is his own choice etc etc

All of that make him look selfish for not rushing back to play, manipulate and pressure him to play through injury.

PS. Kawhi makes the right choice to hold out from Spurs.

[ProcessDoctor]

This is my take on it as a Raptors fan

He definitely would have made a difference in this series. I don't want to say GS would have won for sure but they were the favorites and were basically guaranteed an L tonight without the minutes he played.

Last 2 years, and especially last year, I don't think GS needed him to beat Cleveland, but in hindsight do they win a title if KD is not in the picture but on a different team that is stacked? people don't think about it this way but KD probably would have had at least a chip by now if he was on a different contender, like the Raptors, Wizards, or Blazers for example.

A chip for him was inevitable but going to the Warriors white washed the last 2 seasons.

I'll say it for you then: The Warriors would have absolutely won this series if he played.

You can say what you want but I thought we matched up pretty evenly during the 1st quarter. They had 2 of their best players shooting lights out and they were only up by 6.

We spanked them without KD so I imagine this series would have went the distance with both sides feeling confident about winning game 7.

Imagine if you guys were missing Kawhi. That’s the level of impact KD has.

The fact that you’re only up 3-2 should make the alternative scenario pretty obvious.

[Eyeamok]

It makes me angry that so many people on this board are now saying they respect KD because he was willing to play on an injury. You shouldn’t respect someone for a reason like that. They shouldn’t have to be willing to injure themselves to gain your respect.

It makes me something (not angry) that you feel you have the correct moral compass to tell people what traits they should respect in another person.

[LKN]

It wouldn't surprise me if GS was hiding things from the public wrt the injury... however, I consider it extremely unlikely that anything at all was hidden from KD. I mean, there's just no way that happens - esp with how much power NBA players have. This isn't like the NFL were only a few players have power.... a guy like KD could basically decide to shut himself down for any reason and still have other teams lining up to pay him.

Now, it's certainly possible that the medical staff painted re-injury chances in the most positive light while still being completely truthful.

[Vladimir777]

It makes me angry that so many people on this board are now saying they respect KD because he was willing to play on an injury. You shouldn’t respect someone for a reason like that. They shouldn’t have to be willing to injure themselves to gain your respect.

It makes me something (not angry) that you feel you have the correct moral compass to tell people what traits they should respect in another person.

Fair enough.

[swarlesbarkley]

Meh. Most people are competitors. MJ would have played, Kobe would have played, and even myself would have played. I am a competitor and I would love my brothers and teammates enough to sell out, also like Looney is doing. Guys do it in the NFL all the time. If it's on the line and you have a chance then you go for it

Yep. That's why the NFL now has the rule where doctors can keep players out even if the players want to go back in and play. The GOATs of the game don't worry about their longevity when a championship is on the line (because that's their legacy).

I also think it's a bit funny that people are concerned about KD's next contract. I understand that he deserves to be paid like the best player in the world, but he's already made 160 million (and set to make another 31 million next year). Sure, he's probably thinking about his next contract, but as a guy who'll make nearly 200 million just off basketball contracts by the time he's 32, he might be thinking about legacy more than money.

[Matty]

I'll say it for you then: The Warriors would have absolutely won this series if he played.

You can say what you want but I thought we matched up pretty evenly during the 1st quarter. They had 2 of their best players shooting lights out and they were only up by 6.

We spanked them without KD so I imagine this series would have went the distance with both sides feeling confident about winning game 7.

Imagine if you guys were missing Kawhi for this series. That’s the level of impact KD has.

The fact that you’re only up 3-2 should make the alternative scenario pretty obvious.

It's not the same at all. We don't have a hall of fame backcourt to rely on if Kawhi is out.

GS made it to the finals without KD, there is no way Raptors make it pass the first round without Kawhi.

Not taking away KD's talent but the impact is not the same at all....