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Kevin Durant has a long road back from the Achilles injury he suffered during the NBA Finals last season, and, even after signing a max contract to join the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, there’s still no guarantee that the one-time league MVP will return to his normal self. It’s a big risk for the Nets to give Durant such a big deal, but, if he does prove to be the player he’s always been, the risk would be well worth it. But will Kevin Durant remain that player? It’s the great unknown.
To help at least try and give some insight as to what to expect from the two-time NBA Finals MVP whenever he makes a return to the hardwood, Dr. Steven Weinfeld, a renowned Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, spoke with Nets Insider to get a few details. In Dr. Weinfeld’s mind, he thinks Kevin Durant will be “between 90 and 100 percent” of the player we’ve always seen, as long as there are no setbacks in rehab. The doctor also explained his thoughts on why he doesn’t foresee KD returning this season, and why Durant has a better chance at making a full recovery than a guy like John Wall does from the same injury.
“I think he’ll probably be somewhere between 90 and 100 percent,” stated Dr. Weinfeld. “That’s my thought assuming everything goes smoothly and he doesn’t have any setbacks, I think you can expect somehwere in the 90 to 100 percent range.”
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“A point guard plays a different kind of game than Kevin Durant does,” noted Dr. Weinfeld. “An explosive type athlete, his demand is different than that of Kevin Durant’s. You talk about odds of coming back to where he was, I think Durant’s odds are better than an athlete like John Wall whose whole game is quickness and explosiveness. He [Wall] counts much more on those muscles being exactly where they need to be as opposed to a player like Durant and his style.
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“I think it’s unlikely that he would play this season, but I’d be pleasantly surprised if he did come back,” admitted Mount Sinai’s Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery. “Certainly things you want to be clear about as a surgeon allowing an athlete to come back to play high level sport is that obviously their repair is healed enough and that their stength is where it needs to be and that’s what takes the longest in an Achilles injury. It’s not so much the healing of the tendon, that usually takes somewhere between 4, 5, or 6 months, but the strength of the calf muscle doesn’t usually come back for about a year and sometimes even longer. So that’s what keeps the high performance athlete out as long as it does because you really have to be sure their strength is as good as it can be before you let them come back.”
If you’re a Nets fan, hearing the long-term prognosis from Dr. Weinfeld has to be promising. While many doubt Kevin Durant will rush back to the floor this upcoming season after suffering the devastating injury so late last season, if that means he’ll have extra time to work his way back for the following year and (hopefully) be the superstar he’s always been, then Brooklyn fans will probably be just fine with that.
Obviously, time will tell on what happens with Durant. At 30 years old, he’s still in his prime, but will the extra time off be good or bad for his body and NBA career? It’s one of the biggest questions the NBA has ever had, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds over the next year or so.