Kevin Durant confirms ruptured Achilles: ‘Road back starts now’
OAKLAND — The NBA’s worst fears have been confirmed.
Kevin Durant, who left in the second quarter of the Warriors’ Game 5 win in Toronto, did indeed rupture his Achilles tendon, and underwent surgery Wednesday, providing a bit more clarity for his impending free agency.
Durant announced the news on his Instagram.
“What’s good everybody I wanted to update you all: I did rupture my Achilles. Surgery was today and it was a success, EASY MONEY,” Durant said. “My road back starts now! I got my family and my loved ones by my side and we truly appreciate all the messages and support people have sent our way. Like I said Monday, I’m hurting deeply, but I’m OK. Basketball is my biggest love and I wanted to be out there that night because that’s what I do. I wanted to help my teammates on our quest for the three peat.”
A source told The Post that Durant was in New York for the surgery. Durant had visited with Dr. Martin O’Malley, an associate attending orthopedic surgeon at HSS, who operated on Durant’s foot in 2015. O’Malley also doubles as the Nets team physician and, according to a source, had been a consultant with the Knicks on ankle and foot injuries but no longer.
The Knicks are still planning to pursue Durant in free agency this offseason, and indications around the league are they won’t be alone.
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Durant, who will now likely be forced to miss all of next season, can opt in to his $31.5 million contract for next year, but that stands to be a last resort, according to ESPN.
Ironically, Durant’s Instagram post from New York came minutes after coach Steve Kerr was holding his off-day press conference Wednesday at Oracle Arena, with the team having no knowledge of the player’s announcement. Kerr had said there was no news on Durant and he regretted the decision to play him Monday.
For now, Durant is concentrating on his Warriors teammates, who will try and dig out of a 3-2 hole after Monday’s 106-105 victory. Durant missed the Warriors’ previous nine games with a calf injury sustained in the Western Conference semifinals before suiting up for Game 5. Durant scored 11 points in 12 minutes before exiting in the second quarter, grabbing his right Achilles tendon as he collapsed trying to drive into the lane.
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“It’s 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,” Durant said of the Warriors. “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.”
Kerr said they felt the only risk was the potential of hurting the calf again, not the Achilles.
“There’s going to be finger pointing. We understand that and we accept that,’’ Kerr said. “Obviously, everybody feels horrible for what happened. This last month was a cumulative collaborative effort in his rehabilitation. And that collaboration included Kevin and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, our medical staff, his own outside second opinion doctor, outside of our organization. Kevin checked all the boxes, and he was cleared to play by everybody involved.
“Now, would we go back and do it over again? Damn right. But that’s easy to say after the results…Our feeling was the worst thing that could happen would be a re-injury of the calf. That was the advice and the information that we had. So the Achilles came as a complete shock.”
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