The Golden State Warriors have received a lot of criticism for the way they handled Kevin Durant’s injury. Most believe that they rushed him back for Game 5 when they were down 3-1 to the Toronto Raptors just to try to rally and win their third straight championship.
The plan completely backfired as Durant then suffered a big Achilles injury that will keep him out for all of the 2019-20 season. Before coming back that June night in Toronto, he had missed nine straight games with a calf injury and it was then compounded by a much more serious injury.
In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Durant mentioned that the plan was to come back for Game 5 all along.
He told Yahoo!:
“No matter what the series was, I was aiming for Game 5,” he said. “That’s why I played when it was 3-1. No matter what, I just wanted to play in the Finals. I just wanted to hoop, especially if I could be out there. I was feeling good leading up to it. I was working out every day. I was gradually getting back to myself doing the two-a-days. I was really locked in on my game and trying to get back. I really wanted to play in that series.”
It was admirable for Durant to return and try to help his teammates win a championship, but unfortunately, it is going to cost him an entire season. His comments do take some heat off the Warriors organization who had received some backlash for everything that went down.
He has the heart and mind of a true basketball player and that is something that will help him when he does return from his injury in 2020 with the Brooklyn Nets.
