Durant Injury Takes Shine Off Golden State Warriors
As the NBA season draws toward another thrilling close, all eyes are once again on the Golden State Warriors. NBA champions for the last two years and already through to the Western Conference Final, the California team seem as unstoppable as ever. Or at least they were until star player Kevin Durant pulled up in game five of their conference semifinal against Houston Rockets at the Oracle Arena.
Durant is MVP
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Durant to the Warriors. He was the second overall pick in the 2007 Draft after only one season of college basketball at the University of Texas. From there, he learned his trade in Oklahoma City before joining the Warriors in 2016, and he has never looked back. Helping his Golden State teammates to back-to-back NBA wins, he personally picked up MVP awards in both finals to go with his NBA MVP award, four NBA scoring titles and two Olympic gold medals.
While no team is ever about a single player, the loss of Durant will be a big blow for the Warriors. Despite the injury, the Warriors are still the favorites for the NBA Championship after reaching the Western Conference Finals by beating out the Houston Rockets 4–2. However, their job will be considerably harder without him.
Calf Strain Benches Durant for Two Weeks
Fortunately, the latest news is better than expected. Durant underwent an MRI scan following the injury that revealed a calf strain, which will put him out of action for around two weeks. That means he is unlikely to return to the Warriors team until their fifth or sixth game of their Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, who beat out the Denver Nuggets 4–3.
If they get through that, their Championship Final opponents will either be the Toronto Raptors, who squeezed past the Philadelphia 76ers 4–3 with a tense 92–90 final game, or the Milwaukee Bucks, who made easier progress, dispatching the Boston Celtics 4–1.
With the championship at stake, you might expect the Golden State Warriors to rush Durant back on to the court as quickly as possible. However, it is not as simple as that, as orthopedic surgeon Dr. Alan Beyer explained. “He could feasibly get back by Game 4 against Portland if he pushed it, but [he’d be] risking making the injury a whole lot worse,” he told CBS Sports. “If he were to come back on a partially healed calf, and then end up tearing it all the way by landing or taking off wrong, you’re talking about potentially never coming back 100 percent. He would regret that decision the rest of his career.”
Looking After Number One
Further complicating the situation is the fact that Durant becomes a free agent this summer. While he would want the best for his team, and to complete a personal hat-trick of NBA championships, he will also have one eye on his future beyond the current season. He will not want to rush his recovery for the sake of a game or two, but if the Warriors struggle without him, he could face a tough decision.
Not that Durant has much to worry about when it comes to his future beyond the game. He is already set for life as one of the highest-earning players in the sport thanks to smart sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike. And if his legs ever let him down, he can always have another go at his acting career, following his starring role in 2012 fantasy adventure “Thunderstruck.”
Whatever the outcome of Durant’s injury, it only goes to show that even with a single dominant team, nothing is ever certain in sports. That’s why we keep turning up and tuning in every week, without fail. After all, whether we are part of the Golden State Warriors growing army or hoping for a little more magic from Orlando, anything can happen in this game, and it often does.
