Kevin Durant announced Wednesday on social media that he underwent surgery for a ruptured right Achilles tendon.
Durant revealed the severity of his injury two days after getting hurt during Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto in his return following being sidelined for a month with a right calf strain.
The 30-year-old posted a photo on Instagram showing himself in a hospital bed and wrote: “I wanted to update you all: I did rupture my Achilles. Surgery was today and it was a success, EASY MONEY.
“Its just the way things go in this game and I’m proud that I gave it all I physically could, and I’m proud my brothers got the W. It’s going to be a journey but I’m built for this. I’m a hooper. I know my brothers can get this Game 6, and I will be cheering with dub nation while they do it.”
Just 15 minutes before Durant went public, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said during a news conference that he didn’t yet have a formal update on Durant. Durant has made his own announcements before, such when he wrote on The Players’ Tribune website about his decision to leave Oklahoma City to join Golden State in July 2016.
Kerr said the team had no idea that Durant risked a serious Achilles injury by returning from a strained calf.
After the game Monday, a teary, emotional general manager Bob Myers asked anyone who was looking to place blame to do so on him — not Durant, the medical staff or athletic trainers who worked so tirelessly to get him back.
Kerr said he also understands people wanting to point blame somewhere, though he noted, “Kevin checked all the boxes, and he was cleared to play by everybody involved,” including doctors from within the organization and from the outside.
“So the Achilles came as a complete shock.”
He said there’s “no way” Durant would have been allowed to come back if the team had known he could be injured so seriously.
“Now, would we go back and do it over again? Damn right,” he said. “But that’s easy to say after the results.”The two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP was injured Monday night in the second quarter of Golden State’s 106-105 victory that forced a Game 6 at Oracle Arena on Thursday. The Raptors lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Durant initially was injured May 8 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets, then missed the next nine games. A pending free agent, it’s unclear what might be next for Durant now that he is set for a long rehab and recovery. Teammate DeMarcus Cousins returned in January nearly a year after rupturing his left Achilles tendon and undergoing surgery last season while with New Orleans.
