Kevin Durant has kept a notably low profile during his offseason recovery following an Achilles tear in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. So under-the-radar that both Nets coach Kenny Atkinson and GM Sean Marks found out the All-NBA forward was signing with Brooklyn via the same Instagram post that announced the decision to the world.
But that doesn’t mean the controversy didn’t swirl. From the moment Durant headed to the locker room after 11 minutes of play, the second-guessing began: Who made the call? Was he fully recovered from the prior injury? Was everyone aware of the risks?
In an exclusive interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Durant quickly squashed all notion of outside liability.
So we got straight to it. Did the Warriors mishandle the injury?
Durant slowly straightened up with a perplexed expression on his face.
“Hell, no. How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no,” Durant told Yahoo Sports. “I heard the Warriors pressured me into getting back. Nobody never said a word to me during rehab as I was coming back. It was only me and [director of sports medicine and performance] Rick [Celebrini] working out every day. Right when the series started, I targeted Game 5. Hell, nah. It just happened. It’s basketball.”
Durant went on to discuss the decision to leave Golden State for Brooklyn — “Because I wanted to” — just what he thought of speculation he was headed to the Knicks — “That was crazy” — and how he’s handling his rehabilitation: “My mind is still there, now my body just has to catch up. Once that does, I’ll be fine.”
