Kevin Durant suffered a number of unfortunate injuries this season, his year ultimately ending in March when he opted to have surgery on his right foot, which had troubled him throughout the Thunder’s 2014-15 campaign.
After winning the NBA’s MVP award last season (32 points per game, 50 per cent field goal) Durant has managed to appear in just 27 games this season.
Durant’s inability to stay healthy has not been an issue in past seasons. In fact, Durant had missed just 14 games before this season, which is an amazing feat considering the grinding nature of the NBA season.
But there are signs that Durant’s famed durability could be unravelling.
It began in late 2014, when Durant informed the basketball world he would be sitting out the FIBA World Cup after witnessing Paul George suffer a broken leg.
“It took everything out of me seeing that,” Durant later told a friend. “Everything I had to play for Team USA, that injury stripped it away from me.”
It’s been a bizarre season for the reigning MVP, who has suffered several injuries, ranging from a toe complication, to a gimpy ankle and now a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his foot. It’s a story that has been repeated all too often; see Derrick Rose (possibly), Brandon Roy, Tracy McGrady, and Yao Ming’s careers cut short.
The NBA is at its best when the best of the best are healthy and waging war on the court. Durant’s misfortunes this season have crippled any hope of the Thunder pushing the Warriors in the first round – they’ve just been knocked out of the playoffs following an unlikely Pelicans victory over Golden State.
While Russell Westbrook is a nightly threat to amass yet another triple-double, his usage rate (38 per cent), coupled with his boneheaded turnover’s (4.4 per game), mean the Thunder are a fringe playoff team at best when Durant is not healthy.
The positive thing to come out of Durant’s troubles this season is that when he could get on the court, he was still the reigning MVP. Over 27 games he averaged 25.4 points per game and converted on 51 per cent of his field goals. Yet perhaps Durant’s elite production in the face of adversity is also one of the most upsetting developments to come out of this season; he still has it, but he can’t get healthy.
The NBA world will be anxiously awaiting the return of Durant next season. Optimism is ever present, but his career is at the crossroads.
This forgettable season could merely be an outlier in an illustrious career, or it could follow a route that has eventuated for too many far too often.
Let’s hope it’s the former.
This article originally appeared on swingman.com.au
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