Kevin Durant suffered a bizarre ankle injury during pregame warmups but an expected weeks-long absence isn’t going to bury the Suns.
All the excitement over the Suns acquiring Kevin Durant in a trade with the Nets evaporated on Wednesday night when Durant turned his ankle on a layup attempt during pregame warm-ups.
It was the worst possible outcome for the Suns who were looking forward to Durant making his home debut. Instead of celebrating the arrival of a superstar, the city is now holding its breath awaiting test results.
Initially, reporting suggested there was no need to hit the panic button yet.
“The team is hopeful Durant avoided a serious sprain, but he is scheduled for an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury,” Brian Windhorst wrote for ESPN.
However, AZ Central went on to report that “there is concern within the organization that Durant has a grade 2 sprain,” which would mean weeks on the sideline.
If the MRI does determine Durant has a grade 2 sprain, what does that mean for the Suns?
Kevin Durant injury update: Suns aren’t doomed by ankle injury
UPDATE 7:25 p.m. ET: The Suns expect to re-evaluate Durant after two weeks with hopes of the star forward returning to action shortly after.
AZ Central’s report suggested the layoff for Durant could be four to six weeks. However, Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes tweeted that the average time lost for an NBA player with that injury is around seven games or 19 days.
During the 2022-23 season specifically, the average time lost for a grade 2 sprain has been 15 games or around seven weeks.
That’s a pretty wide window for Durant and the Suns. Even so, it doesn’t signal doom for Phoenix.
The Suns have 16 games remaining in the regular season, so even within the more pessimistic 2022-23 average timeframe, Durant could return in time for the start of the NBA Playoffs.
That’s why this isn’t the end. Durant’s history of returning from injury and hitting the ground running is fairly strong. He shouldn’t need much time to get up to speed.
In 2021 he missed nearly two months with a hamstring injury and dropped 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes of action in his return against the Pelicans. He was plus-17 off the bench.
Durant came back from six weeks out in 2022 with 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and a block against the Heat.
While the Suns would obviously prefer to have Durant healthy and helping them improve their positioning in the Western Conference standings, they shouldn’t be written off just yet. If Durant is suited up and on the court in time for the playoffs, fan can expect him to play no worse for wear.
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