This is just terrible, depressing news.
Warriors GM Bob Myers, holding back tears while at the podium, delivered the news everyone feared about Kevin Durant’s calf injury.
“Kevin has an Achilles injury,” Myers said. “I don’t know the extent of it. He’ll have an MRI tomorrow. Prior to coming back he went through four weeks with a medical team, and it was thorough and it was experts and multiple MRIs and multiple doctors, and we felt good about the process...
“I don’t believe there’s anybody to blame,” Myers said, then added that if anyone should be blamed it is him.
Bob Myers gets emotional talking about KD's injury. pic.twitter.com/W8W9b11bOI
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 11, 2019
The Warriors believe the MRI will find a torn right Achilles, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. That fits with the emotions from the team and Myers after the game.
Durant had missed a month after a calf strain suffered on May 8 against Houston. Durant had pushed to get back, wanting to be part of this Finals run by the Warriors, ignoring critics who had called him out for not being back sooner.
He played 12 minutes, scored 11 points before going down. He left before the game was over, on crutches and wearing a walking boot. The Warriors hung on 106-105 to force a Game 6 Thursday night in Oakland.
“Let me tell you something about Kevin Durant, he loves to play basketball,” Myers said with anger rising in his voice. “And the people that questioned whether he wanted to get back to this team were wrong. He’s one of the most misunderstood people, he’s a good person. A good teammate.
“It’s not fair.”
Durant himself posted this on Instagram (warning, NSFW language).
Kevin Durant’s postgame comments via IG pic.twitter.com/c5kXBElFGh
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) June 11, 2019
“It’s tough. Really it sucks, man...” Klay Thompson said. “For him to put his health on the line to come back and compete at the highest level, he’s one of the best to ever do it, and we were trying to win this for him. We miss him, we just wish him a speedy recovery. That’s our brother and it’s honestly, to be honest, it kind of -- it’s very deflating. It’s hard to even celebrate this win.”
Durant is heading into a summer where he was expected to decline his player option and become a free agent, one coveted by teams from coast to coast. How this impacts his decision remains to be seen.