Injured Warriors Star Kevin Durant Has Surgery On His Ruptured Achilles Tendon
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Injured Golden State star Kevin Durant took to social media Wednesday after undergoing surgery in New York on his ruptured Achilles tendon.
Using his Instagram account, Durant who was injured in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday night, posted a photo and a message trying to deflect the blame game.
"I wanted to update you all: I did rupture my Achilles. Surgery was today and it was a success, EASY MONEY. My road back begins now! I got my family and my loved ones by my side and we truly appreciate all the messages and support people have sent our way."
"Like I said Monday. I'm hurting deeply, but I'm Ok. Basketball is my biggest love and I wanted to be out there that night because that's what I do. I wanted to help my teammates on our quest for a three-peat. It's just the way things go in this game and I'm proud my brothers got the W."
"It's going to be a journey but I'm built for this. I'm a hooper. I know my brothers can get this Game 6, and I will be cheering with dub nation while they do it."
Durant had returned to the lineup after missing nine straight playoffs games with an injured calf. He was finally cleared to play for Monday's game with the Warriors facing elimination.
He played brilliantly, scoring 11 points before his Achilles gave out while making a move on the court.
While Durant was recovering from his procedure in New York, the question of blame was a focal point during the Warriors media availability Wednesday as they prepared for Game 6.
"Everybody has great 20-20 hindsight," said Warriors star Steph Curry. "There's 24 hours in a day and there are a lot of different takes you can have on a situation like that. In our cases, we as well as K and knowing him as a person and behind the scenes, we all want to play basketball. If we have the opportunity to play, we want to play. That's just how it is as competitors, especially at this stage."
"I trust our medical staff and know (Warriors team president) Bob Myers has our best interest in terms of not just what we can do in the series but long term and our overall health. You see how hard he took it. That's genuine and authentic. You can waste time talking about the 'what ifs' and this and that. Injuries are tough...They are a part of our game. They are going to continue to be part of our game."
"But everybody putting their collective brains together to make the sound and smart decisions. You kind of just live with that."
Head coach Steve Kerr also addressed the blame game.
"I completely understand the world we live in," he said. "As Bob mentioned the other night, there is going to be blame, there is going to be finger pointing. We understand that and accept that. This is kind of what you sign up for when you get into coaching and general management in the NBA."
"The main thing is our concern for Kevin. The last couple days, just checking on him. Obviously, everybody feels horrible for what happened. The last month was a cumulative, collaborative effort in his rehabilitation. That collaboration included Kevin and his business partner Rich Kleiman, our medical staff, his own outside second opinion doctor. Kevin checked all the boxes."
"He was cleared to play by everybody involved. Now would we go back and do it over again (how Durant play), damn right. But that's easy to say after the results."
"When we gathered all the information, our feeling was the worst thing that could happen would be a re-injury of the calf. That was the advice and the information we had. At that point, once Kevin was cleared to play, he was comfortable with that. We were comfortable with that. So the Achilles came as a complete shock... Had we know that this was a possibility or in the realm of possibility, there is no way we would have allowed Kevin to come back."
Appearing on Good Morning America, Durant's mother Wanda said her son felt he could play on Monday.
"he felt that he was able to play and they said that he could play," she said. "We still have to analyze that see if they made the right decision...The doctors said that he was OK. Kevin couldn't have gone on his own to say I'm gonna play without the advisement of the doctors."