Kevin Durant’s ruptured right Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals was one of the more devastating injuries in all of sport. The former Finals MVP — returning from a severe calf strain to help the Golden State Warriors toward their third-straight championship — went down with the Achilles injury that will keep him out of action for the 2019-20 NBA season.
He scored 11 points in 12 minutes in Golden State’s Game 5 win. But with the Warriors down 3-1 in the Finals and in need of a victory to stay alive, some wondered if members of the team’s front office or medical staff had rushed Durant back onto the court.
In his postgame presser, general manager Bob Myers said after the team’s heart-wrenching Game 5 win that he accepts blame for Durant’s return and eventual demise. But it looks like Myers’ blame — as well as the blame media and fans heaped on the team — were misplaced.
Putting speculation to rest, Durant spoke with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports and set the record straight. “Hell, no,” Durant said. “How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no.”
Durant also addressed some of the rumors he’d heard and stated unequivocally that he and he alone made the decision to return for Game 5:
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.
Hell, nah. It just happened. It’s basketball. [Expletive] happens. Nobody was responsible for it. It was just the game. We just need to move on from that [expletive] because I’m going to be back playing.
The determination to return from an unhealed calf strain for the sake of a chance to three-peat for the title is exactly the type of dogged commitment and Warrior-like stubbornness that will help Durant return from an injury that too often ends other players’ careers.
