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

[arh1109]

I don't blame the Warriors coaching staff for letting him play. But it's heartbreaking to see him go down like that. That's probably the peak of KD's impact as a player given that he's already 30 about to turn 31. By the time he's expected to be fully recovered he'll be 32. On the bright side he'll command less money in free agency. So maybe the Warriors will be able to keep their core together of Curry, Durant, Thompson, and Green.

[NBAFan93]

the OP is right, everyone is to blame. The funny part is how everyone now is washing their hands clean and saying we had nothing to do with it

I agree everyone is to blame. All the freakin’ narratives and media obsession w/ superstars and legacies and wanting a comeback from down 1-3...

EVERYTHING leading up to that game was more about KD playing and being the hero than anything else - I mean all you saw was “will the Warriors come back from 3-1 of KD comes back”. And everyone knew something didn’t seem right about him going from failing the tests to even PRACTICE on Friday and then suddenly being cleared to play with no minutes restrictions on Monday - but people looked the other way cause they wanted their big comeback story.

[djsunyc]

i better not see that damn willis reed clip ever again. glorifying athletes that play hurt is a big part of this problem.

RG3's career with the redskins was killed b/c of this.

[djsunyc]

to me, it's a simple question - if the warriors were up 3-1, would KD have played? if the answer is no then gsw f cked up.

[Michael Jordan]

hats off to KD. worsened his injury to give his team the boost that they needed.

i will never question this man's commitment to the game.

Did you join in 2002 with a Durant username, or did you change it somehow? Wasn't he like 14 at the time? Or was it based on that band Duran Duran

to me, it's a simple question - if the warriors were up 3-1, would KD have played? if the answer is no then gsw f cked up.

This is a good point and I think its pretty obvious he wouldn't have played through injury if they were up 3-1.

[isiah_thomas]

Blame game is worthless here. Teams in FA banking on the big fish now have to adjust their game plan significantly and the price for AD just went up to attract the 2nd big fish in FA that isn't hurt.
Somebody who doesn't get AD (NY,BKN,LAL) will still pay KD to take a 1 yr sabbatical and try to get a secondary profile all star caliber FA

The price for ad didn't go up. Davis or any other free agent not named kawai isnt a title contender. what this does is slow down the free agent market and make Davis to the Lakers most likely

[Lalouie]

Don't try to leave yourselves out, everybody has been part of this crime. I've seen multiple threads and hundreds of posts how KD fakin it, dragging out this "minor" injury and trying to prove GSW can't win without him. All the disgusting media talking heads, which their only jobs spewing rumors, jawing and casually drag people's names through the mud without any self-reproach or shame and making millions over this moral perversion, and the fans buy into this infamy and elevate them are the instigators.

Also his teammates and front office did him dirty; first came into existence as Draymond's temper tantrum , "we don't need you" , then all corroborated it by keeping quiet in face off all the media cesspool, even some of them whispered to ears of their media buddies, anonymously/cowardly.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254122/Kevin-Durants-Unknown-Return-Creating-Confusion-Angst-For-Some-Teammates


Now they're shedding crocodile tears...Media, Kerr, Myers, Curry... This once in a lifetime talent got robbed from advancing his legacy to named as the best player of his era by superseding LBJ and we fans deprived of witnessing at least 3 more years of his prime. Media, Fans, teammates, coaching staff, Warriors FO all collectively created the pressure to force him to play and it disgusted me.

stop. this is sports.

and by the way.....YOU LEFT OUT KD as party to the blame.
when you go see the doctor, what is the first thing that happens. they ask you and you tell them WHAT'S WRONG. when you get treatment, be it anything from medication to pt, what do they tell you. they tell you if there's a reaction, CALL THE DOCTOR. if you're going through pt and there's something amiss, what do you say. you tell the therapist there's something wrong.

the patient has the final say! i mean,,,didn't we go through this with kawhi. sas doctors cleared but HE SAID something was wrong. no one believed him and there we have it. kd's teammates were watching him everyday, probably drenched in anticipation of a good sign. so what do you think is going through kd's head as he watches his team lose, as he watches his teammates watching him in practice to see if he's ok.

this is what athletes do!! from gymnasts performing with a broken leg to football player playing with a broken leg to basketball players playing with a broken collar bone to klay demanding(practically) that he play.

you must be a disgusted fan of ALL sports, then. are you not entertained.

this is kd's world, buddy. and there is no one more dedicated to winning at all costs than the players themselves. and don't throw the "the org should protect the player from himself" either. if the test and charts show everything is ok then it's finally left up to the player, and playing is what they do.

[Durant Durant]

hats off to KD. worsened his injury to give his team the boost that they needed.

i will never question this man's commitment to the game.

Did you join in 2002 with a Durant username, or did you change it somehow? Wasn't he like 14 at the time? Or was it based on that band Duran Duran

That username is my 3rd replacement. started off as a Wizards fan supporting MJ.

yeah it's a play on the band's name.

[-G-]

To me, this speaks to KD's thin skin. You can't go online and let that crap affect you. The internet and social media are a cesspool of ****.

[everdiso]

The whole organization should (and probably do) feel ashamed.

The medical staff for clearing him. The ownership and management for pressuring or even allowing him to rush back. And the players and coach for their nonstop daily public imploring of him to come back this series - and their insinuation that he was being a pussy.

This is a black mark on the entire org.

[djsunyc]

This really reminded me of the Cutler injury during the Bears/Packers NFC Championship.

Once Cutler got hurt, he refused to play and they cited long term injury as a risk.
So we were just supposed to forget about a great season, winning 2 playoff games and being 30 min from the Super Bowl
and let Cutler heal because he was gonna come back next year and then we were going to win a bunch more Super Bowls because we let him heal properly.....

That didn't happen., I still lament that game and hate Cutler to this day.

If he was committed to coming back to GSW next year and they intended to sign him to a max deal, it was really just a formality because KD was not gong anywhere - there's no way they let him play last night no matter what he said.

Ultimately HE is the one that chose to play and he knew and well as his agent that this was a risk.

He really did that to try and answer his critics, he wanted to prove us all wrong.
Look at what he risked to try and gain respect.

Warriors should have declared him out for the playoffs when it happened. That would have taken the pressure off him trying to rush back. If their team doctors could not see what all of us amateur doctors clearly saw, how can they claim to be "light years ahead"?

how many players say they can go when they're still hurt? when it comes to health, you can't simply go by what the player wants to do. this is on the org.

[1993Playoffs]

Does anybody agree that KD post 2015 injury was already declining as a athlete? Its obvious when you look at him in 2014 compared to now, he may never be the same after this

[Mamba Mentality]

If he follows Kobe’s timeline it would put him on track to return after the 2020 all star break. What he'll look like is a totally different question. Just for some perspective, it took Gay a couple seasons to regain form.

[nedleeds]

Him and Isaiah Thomas.

Coincidentally both are going to get screwed by their teams for money.

IT received second and third opinions from outside sources and still wanted to play but keep spitting these false narratives.

KD is going to get screwed for $32 million to rehab for a year. If that's getting screwed please pump me hard.

[Ado05]

Not blaming it solely on the Warriors, cause KD wanted to play too, but that medical staff shouldve put their foot down and said no.

[Guest202]

NBA Finals intensity is a different animal. They threw someone in there that made it through a 2 on 2 session against G-League Guys.

The plan was initially to play KD in short spurts. He had played 12 minutes of the first 14 minutes up till that point.

Everyone could see how uncomfortable he looked trying to push off his right leg when trying to drive or plant. I thought they were going to use him more as a decoy and floor spacer, but they were using a lot of those clear outs at the top of the key he normally does.

Because they didn’t care. Ran him into the dirt because expiring contract and they figured he was going to the Knicks.

[duppyy]

In reality, if Durant didn't play and said he doesn't want to risk injury, fans, media outlets, and fellow teammates will call him out on it. We've seen it happen with Kawhi.

[BodieB]

It sucks, but he made his decision. Making everyone a villain isn't going to change that and I'm certain KD will realize that himself if he hasn't already.

[TaylorTRoom]

I hate to say it, but Kawhi and KD are counterexamples of the same point- players (especially stars) need their own medical teams.

[Drygon]

hats off to KD. worsened his injury to give his team the boost that they needed.

i will never question this man's commitment to the game.

What about before yesterday? It's not like Durant wasn't a competitor before, there's no new information here.