The Golden State Warriors will be without Kevin Durant for the rest of the 2019 NBA Finals. Durant suffered what most fear to be a torn Achilles tendon on Monday night, ending his season.
Debate has raged on about whether Durant should have played in Game 5 at all, and at least one former player thanks the public outrage about his injury isn’t kosher.
Speaking on “First Take” on Tuesday morning, Jalen Rose said that he felt as though people weren’t actually personally concerned about Durant’s best interests.
Via Twitter:
"Everybody's fake acting like they care about KD's best interest when they don't. It's phony to me."
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 11, 2019
—@JalenRose pic.twitter.com/rXXXOShF2H
It would have been nearly impossible to get Durant to not play in that game. Rose astutely pointed out that the mentality around sports in America, from top to bottom, is for players to fib about their health so they can get onto the field.
It’s a disappointing result for the Warriors, who will need to win two more games without Durant if they want to take home another championship. For now, we just have to wait and see the extent of Durant’s injury, and how much time his prognosis estimates him to miss next season.