Kevin Durant has updated the world on the leg injury he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals upon his return from a calf strain, and the news was as bad as everyone in the world already knew it would be. In an Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon, Durant said that he ruptured his Achilles, and though he called his surgery a “success,” it will be a long time—possibly a whole season—before he plays basketball again.
Even before Durant’s post, the Warriors already seemed to be in damage control mode. Talking to the media today, Steve Kerr echoed the comments made by GM Bob Myers following Game 5, noting that Durant played only because he had been given the green light by the team’s medical staff, and that he wouldn’t have suited up had there been a known chance of an Achilles rupture.
This is a slight tweak from what Kerr was saying immediately after Game 5, when he deferred to Myers on the question of whether playing Durant was the right call.
There are three possibilities here:
- Kerr is lying. Some-to-all of the Warriors’ staff, and possibly KD himself, knew the full extent of the risks involved, and nevertheless decided that it was worth Durant playing in Game 5.
- The Warriors’ medical staff is incompetent. They didn’t realize based on the information they had that Durant could crabmeat his Achilles if he played in Game 5.
- This was a complete freak accident that could have happened even if Durant wasn’t coming back from an injured calf.
Option 3 is the only one that absolves all parties of guilt. Unfortunately for the Warriors, nobody is ever going to believe that one, even though it might be the truth. Somebody, somewhere in the Warriors’ organization, is probably going to have to take the blame before everyone is satisfied.