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Warriors announce Kevin Durant suffered Achilles injury in Game 5

jason owens
Staff writer

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant left Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter of Monday’s 106-105 win over the Toronto Raptors.

After the game, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers announced that Durant had suffered an Achilles injury. He held back tears as he made the announcement, noting that Durant will have an MRI Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury.

“It’s an Achilles injury,” Meyers said. “I don’t know the extent of it. He’ll have an MRI tomorrow.”

Myers — clearly feeling the weight of a serious injury that could have career implications for Durant as he enters free agency — then went on to explain the process Durant and the team went through to decide that he would play Monday as a collaborative one with a medical team that included multiple MRIs and doctors.

“We felt good about the process,” Myers continued. “He was cleared to play tonight — that was a collaborative decision. I don’t believe there’s anybody to blame. But I understand this world. If you have to, you can blame me. I run our basketball operations department. ... The people that worked with him and cleared him are good people. They’re good people.”

Report: Achilles tear feared

ESPN reports that the team fears an MRI will confirm a torn Achilles tendon.

Durant left the arena on crutches while wearing a walking boot.

Durant suffered the injury when he collided with Toronto’s Serge Ibaka, who stole the ball from Durant. As Ibaka led a fast break, Durant fell to the floor and clutched his lower right leg and eventually had to be helped up and led off the court into the tunnel.

Durant’s first game back since calf injury

Durant strained his right calf in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. He missed nine games with the injury and made his NBA Finals debut Monday after missing the first four games of the series and the entire Western Conference finals.

ESPN’s Doris Burke painted a picture of an emotional scene in the Warriors’ locker room at halftime prior to the update that Durant was ruled out.

The severity of the injury was apparent via slow-motion replay.

Fans cheer Durant’s injury

Several Raptors fans in the Toronto crowd cheered and waved at Durant when he fell to the floor, prompting Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and Warriors guard Klay Thompson to wave them off.

He then received an ovation from the crowd as he walked to the tunnel.

What’s next for Durant?

Durant is obviously done for the series. How long he’ll be sidelined and how the impacts him moving forward as he enters free agency is unclear.

Kevin Durant clutched his lower right leg and had to be helped off the court after suffering an apparent lower-leg injury. (Getty)
Kevin Durant clutched his lower right leg and had to be helped off the court after suffering an apparent lower-leg injury. (Getty)

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