The Golden State Warriors are suffering the consequences of playing Kevin Durant in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals was a bittersweet victory for the Golden State Warriors. Despite securing a crucial win to extend the series, the Dubs watched in agony as Kevin Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that will have him out for the foreseeable future.
According to a few reports, the Warriors medical staff told Durant that his previous calf injury could not be further worsened by playing on it. Of course, this wasn’t the case as his right leg completely gave out on him in under 12 minutes of playing time.
This shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise. After not playing in an NBA game for over a month and doing very limited practice with the team, I think most people could tell KD wasn’t fully prepared for a return of this magnitude.
The NBA Finals are impossible to replicate. The energy and stakes can never get higher than an elimination game and Durant’s body simply wasn’t ready to make this jump in activity.
However, there is no doubt that KD wanted to play in this game and I’m absolutely sure the medical staff believed he would be fine. While Warriors GM, Bob Meyers, already took the blame for rushing Durant back too early, I don’t think anyone really is at fault.
This is high-level basketball and Durant ultimately made the final decision to return to the court. No one could have predicted he would suffer this injury and I’m sure KD would do it all over again if it meant giving his team a chance at wining the title.
The heart and persistence that KD showed by appearing in this game has already won back a ton of fans and there is no doubt he will continue to regain respect as he progresses through his recovery.