From the moment Kevin Durant went down with his Achilles injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the blame was placed on the Golden State Warriors.
Durant, of course, had missed a month due to a calf injury suffered against the Houston Rockets. Even that initial injury drew speculation about an Achilles tear, so when the second injury took place, the Warriors were forced to evaluate what had happened.
As easy as it would be for Durant to point fingers at the Warriors now that he’s a member of the Brooklyn Nets, the two-time NBA Finals MVP opted to defend his former franchise.
Speaking extensively about the injury for the first time, Durant refused to place fault on the Warriors. He said when asked if he blamed the Warriors, via Yahoo Sports:
“Hell, no. How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no. I heard the Warriors pressured me into getting back. Nobody never said a word to me during rehab as I was coming back. It was only me and [director of sports medicine and performance] Rick [Celebrini] working out every day. Right when the series started, I targeted Game 5. Hell, nah. It just happened. It’s basketball. S— happens. Nobody was responsible for it. It was just the game. We just need to move on from that s— because I’m going to be back playing.”
Durant is likely to miss the entire 2019-20 season with that ruptured Achilles, but he didn’t rule out a potential return in that interview. At this point, it’s too early to know how his body will respond to the treatment.
He said:
“I don’t know. Just like I didn’t know I was going to get hurt. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m early in the process. So I’m grinding every day. I’m not even trying to think that far. That’s not going to do me any good. So I just try to focus on what I can control right now, second by second. Who knows? We’ll see.”
