Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors went through all kinds of trouble during the 2019 playoffs and it all culminated in a season ending injury.
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When Durant joined the Warriors, there was a seismic shift in the power balance in the NBA. The Warriors were unstoppable. They ripped through the Western Conference for three straight seasons.
They won two Finals with relative ease, and they were on their way to winning a third straight before disaster struck. Durant injured his calf during the Warriors’ second round series with the Rockets.
He stayed out during the Warriors’ Conference Championship round against the Portland Trailblazers, and he was set to return in game five of the Finals with the Warriors down 3-1.
He played 12 minutes before rupturing his Achilles tendon. That one injury effectively ended the KD-Golden State era, but it could have led to a lot more drama if Durant wanted it to.
One year ago, Kevin Durant made his heroic return in Game 5 of the NBA Finals before tearing his Achilles.
He had 11 points in the first quarter before the injury. pic.twitter.com/TziRJPntJ6
— ESPN (@espn) June 10, 2020
Kevin Durant had the power to sue the Warriors for up to $1 billion
Durant’s injury raised several questions about how the Warriors handled the whole situation. Before game five, we were hearing reports about how Durant was perfectly set to make a comeback.
Durant trusted his doctors, coaches, and trainers that the decision to let him play was made with full certainty. However, in hindsight, everything seems really questionable.
For one, Steve Kerr told everyone that Durant ‘couldn’t get more hurt’ from his calf strain.
Rachel Nichols “Steve Kerr said the doctors told him that Kevin Durant couldn’t get more hurt” pic.twitter.com/2tk6B1o9Zk
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) June 11, 2019
ESPN’s Jay Williams put the Warriors on blast for their strange decision to bring Durant into the game. “And I know for a fact that he was told that with a torn calf, a partial torn calf, that it unloaded the pressure on the Achilles, that there was no chance that the Achilles could be injured at all,” he said at the time.
Seemingly, the team didn’t have Durant’s best interests at hearts, and if he really wanted to, Durant could have taken the case to court. Per Goldberg Segalla LLP, Durant could have sued the Warriors for up to $1 billion.
Durant never revealed anything about a potential lawsuit, and we don’t know if there ever was one on the table, but it’s interesting to think about now. KD opted out of his contract after the Finals and joined the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason. He missed a year with the injury before coming back strong.
LeBron James on how Kevin Durant has come back from his Achilles injury:
“I heard there was only really 1 group of people that had any doubt on him coming back full strength. I’m not going to name them, I’ll let you guys do that research” pic.twitter.com/e2hEHYMCCs
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) December 24, 2021
He averaged 26.9 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, and 5.6 assists per game. He also shot the ball better than he ever had before.
Kevin Durant was back tonight, so here’s a quick dive into his shooting stats to help explain: How is post-Achilles KD scoring more efficiently than ever before? pic.twitter.com/oYmLLXrXUA
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) February 14, 2021
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