Golden State Warriors: Is Kevin Durant’s anger over his injury justified?

Kevin Durant is allegedly upset with the Golden State Warriors for rushing him back in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Is this anger justified?

It’s no secret that every reporter is working to get the latest scoop on Kevin Durant’s upcoming free agency period. According to a recent report, Durant is “really pissed off” with the Golden State Warriors for insisting he plays in the 2019 NBA Finals. This article goes on to explain a few details about the injury that we had already been speculating for quite some time.

• Steve Kerr was told that Kevin Durant could not further injure himself by returning from his calf injury
• Durant felt somewhat rushed by the Warriors front office to return to the court before being fully healthy
• Durant and Kyrie Irving have met in person twice since his original injury

What does all of this mean? Is any of this even true? While we can’t confirm everything, we are sure that Durant and Irving have been meeting up and there is definitely some friction between KD and the front office currently. How severe this conflict truly may be is still uncertain.

We aren’t going to waste any time analyzing whether or not KD was rushed by the Dubs or if he is actually upset at the front office. In fact, we won’t even discuss if Durant’s association with Irving is hinting at a potential team up in a different city. Instead, let’s decide if KD has reason to be upset with the Warriors in the first place.

Before KD joined the Warriors, he had a somewhat unproven reputation. There is no doubt he was respected as one of the best players in the world, but years of failure in the playoffs compounded by him blowing a 3-1 lead in the 2016 Western Conference Finals put Durant in an uncomfortable position.

As we know, Durant made the decision to join the Warriors and fast-track his way to an NBA championship. With the help of an already set in stone supporting cast, Durant road this wave to three straight Finals appearances and two championship victories. While KD proved he was more than just a bandwagon by winning the Finals MVP Award each time, it’s tough to argue he could have accomplished this without joining the Dubs in the first place.

Now let’s take a deeper look at what happened in the 2018-19 NBA Playoffs. After KD suddenly grabbed his lower leg in a non-contact play, the first thing everyone thought was he had just torn his Achilles. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that KD had only suffered a lower calf strain.

What followed in the next three weeks was nothing but confusion. Despite the Warriors playing the injury off as no big deal, it would be nearly a month before Durant was able to practice with the team and actually be cleared to play in a game.

This lead to countless speculation that perhaps this injury was more severe than it seemed. When Durant returned to the court and inevitably fell with his ruptured Achilles, it was clear to many that he had been rushed back to early.

However, it is extremely important to note one thing: Durant made the final decision to play in Game 5. Nobody could have forced him to play if he wasn’t feeling ready to go. KD has nothing but poor luck to blame for his Achilles injury.

Because of this, the Dubs shouldn’t be worried about backlash from their two-time Finals MVP. It’s safe to say that KD understands it is irrational to blame the front office for a freak injury.