Just about everyone has weighed in on Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant and his Achilles injury. Jalen Rose said that he felt folks were not being honest in their concern for his overall well-being. Meanwhile the battle has waged on about whether the Warriors should have let Durant play at all — even NFL cornerback Richard Sherman has spoken up.
We don’t know the extent of Durant’s injury at this time, but if he has a full tear it’s likely he’s going to miss the entirety of the 2019-20 NBA season.
Durant’s right calf injury kept him out of a significant portion of these playoffs, including the entirety of the Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. Durant was out for so long that folks began speculating about the magnitude of his injury. When he came back for Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals on Monday night, many felt it was still too soon despite the fact Durant last played on May 8.
One of the most critical voices of the Warriors the last 24 hours has been Charles Barkley, who said that he felt the injury was Golden State’s fault for allowing Durant to play.
In particular, Barkley noted the rumors about Golden State’s front office being upset that Durant couldn’t play perhaps messed with the star’s head. Barkley also said that players can’t be trusted to make their own judgement calls because they’re always going to try to force their way onto the floor.
Via Twitter:
"I blame the Warriors for KD getting hurt and I don't care what they say about it."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 11, 2019
Charles Barkley brought the heat, saying the Warriors shouldn't have played Kevin Durant in Game 5 pic.twitter.com/uyTgg2qsCS
“Yes there is somebody to blame: the Golden State Warriors for putting KD out there. That was not right.
…
I blame the Warriors for KD getting hurt and I don’t care what they say about it. They shouldn’t have put that man out there. You know how I know it? Because he blew out his Achilles.”Who knows who is really to blame for Durant playing in an NBA Finals game when he was clearly not ready to go? We might never find that out. At this point, we can only look forward to the summer and wonder how his injury will affect the free agency plans of teams looking to sign Durant, and what that means for the teams that aren’t.