Kevin Durant’s road to recovery is a grueling one as his ruptured Achilles is considered one of the worst injury in the league. After the news broke out, many believe that the 30-year-old will not be the same player when he returns on the court.
But some are holding up hope including Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. Thompson himself, is recovering from an ACL tear and gave his two cents about Kevin Durant’s uphill climb.
“He’s so young and talented, his skills will never deteriorate. [Kevin Durant] will be back to jumping 12 feet high and raining 3’s all over the court,” Thompson told ESPN’s Cari Champion.
Thompson’s sentiment may be in the right place as KD was seen walking recently after undergoing surgery back in June. In a cellphone video acquired by TMZ, Kevin Durant limped across a street in Los Angeles without crutches.
It’s clear that the injury hasn’t fully healed and it’s expected he’s going to miss the 2019-2020 season. So when is Kevin Durant returning?
That’s difficult to tell since, as mentioned earlier, an Achilles injury is a complicated subject. Looking at this list compiled by Sportsnet's Faizal Khamisa, the average recovery time for an Achilles rupture is around 280 days or 9 months. If Kevin Durant’s road to recovery started in June, we could be seeing him on the floor on March or April 2020.
Nets fans, of course, are excited for his return, especially since he’ll be playing alongside Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan once he does. Kevin Durant signed a four-year, $164 million contract with the Nets so even if the team doesn’t produce this year, there’s still plenty of reasons to be optimistic in the 2020-2021 season.
Meanwhile, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that they are doing everything they can to ascertain their star player’s recovery will go swimmingly. Judging by the TMZ video, it appears that Kevin Durant’s convalescence is indeed going smoothly. Hopefully, he returns 100 percent next year as it would be a shame to lose one of the best players in the league and competition wouldn’t be the same if KD isn’t out there causing all sorts of headaches for other teams.
