Kevin Durant Confirms Ruptured Achilles and Surgery on Instagram

When Kevin Durant went down in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, we all feared the worst. Unfortunately, those fears have come to fruition. After GM Bob Myers gave an emotional press conference and told the world Durant had an Achilles injury, Durant has now confirmed he suffered a torn Achilles tendon. He also confirmed he had surgery on it today and it was a success.

This is just brutal for Durant, suffering such a serious injury on the eve of becoming the most coveted basketball player in the world. He wanted his team to win more than anything, and it cost him everything. But on a positive note, he’s confident in his recovery.

The timetable for his return is impossible to project at this point. Achilles injuries are some of the nastiest in sports. Teammate DeMarcus Cousins can attest to that; the big man suffered his torn Achilles in January of 2018 and didn’t return until the following December, and didn’t resemble anything like his old self until near the end of the year. A full season of rehab, as tragic as the prospect is, may be in the cards for Durant.

I’m gonna be honest with you all: this sucks. Like him or hate him, Durant is one of the two best players in the world and any basketball fan deeply appreciates the beauty of his game. He’s truly one of a kind. The hope is Durant can come back better than ever. But the track record for basketball players around the age of 30 suffering such an injury isn’t cause for optimism.

Yet, Durant has defied expectations for his entire career. Here’s to hoping he can do it one more time, and come back as the same unstoppable force we know and enjoy.