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The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without their reigning MVP Kevin Durant for the rest of the regular season and playoffs due to bone graft surgery on his injured foot.
Persistent soreness has plagued Durant since the initial surgery late last year, and he will undergo surgery next week to treat the bone fracture.
In an official statement, Oklahoma City executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti noted the emphasis throughout Durant’s rehabilitation process focused on his long-term health. He also stated that the surgery will see Durant sidelined from all basketball activities for the next four to six months.
Presti said that the process of rehabilitation for Durant involved consulting two additional specialists, as well as Durant’s original physician. Throughout this timeline, a consensus was reached that the initial healing from the first surgery had begun showing signs of regression.
Along with the mutual consent from the Thunder management, Durant, and the consulted specialists, it was decided that the bone graft surgery was necessary for Durant’s “long term health and stability”.
This news comes after Presti announced just last week that Durant will be removed from the Thunder’s basketball activities indefinitely. Presti noted that Durant wasn’t progressing as the team had hoped for, but a likely return this season remained in the schedule.
Durant only missed three per cent of the team’s games in his first seven seasons with the Thunder. In the 2014-15 season alone he has missed 45 out of 72 matches, leaving the Thunder eight in the West, which is to be their lowest seeding in five years.
Although the current form of the Thunder will have them making the playoffs, the void left by Durant will prove tough to fill. It’s yet to be seen whether the dynamic play of Russell Westbrook alone is enough in a seven-game series against the West’s elite, despite his push for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player honours.
In Durant’s limited stint of 27 games this season, the MVP averaged 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists, in only 33 minutes of play. This would give him a PER of 27.7, among the league’s best, and the second-highest points-per-48 minutes average, behind teammate Russell Westbrook.
Given the initial scheduled recovery timetable of four to six months, Durant would return to basketball activities at the start of October this year. That return would be roughly a month before the 2015-16 season commences, which will keep Thunder medical staff diligent in their attempts to get their star healthy in time for the new season.
With eleven games remaining in their regular season, the Thunder currently hold onto the eighth spot in the West, three games clear of Phoenix.
Andrew Croft is a second year Bachelor of Sport Journalism student at La Trobe University. Follow him on Twitter @andrewcroft12
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