CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 06: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors speaks to the media after Game Three of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on June 6, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 110-102. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)With Kevin Durant going under the knife for a ruptured Achilles, it goes without saying that he’ll miss most – if not all – of the 2019-20 NBA season. An injury like that can take an incredibly long time to recover from, but one writer has an idea of what his time frame might be.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic pointed to several players who suffered similar injuries but with varying recovery times. The fastest recovery time was by Rudy Gay, who returned within nine months of suffering his Achilles tear.
But the two players on the list of a closer build to Durant – DeMarcus Cousins and Jonas Jerebko – took 12 and 14 months of recovery time respectively.
Suffice it to say, Kevin Durant might not be back on the court until spring of 2020 at the very earliest.
Bookmark KD's surgery date: June 12. All guys are built and heal different. Rudy Gay tore his Achilles and returned nine months later. DeMarcus Cousins was around 12 months. Jonas Jerebko returned in about 14 months.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 12, 2019
Durant started Game 5 of the NBA Finals despite having missed the previous nine games for the Warriors with a calf injury.
He started the game well-enough before going down clutching the same leg though. Golden State went on to win the game, but it was bitter-sweet as Durant was diagnosed with an Achilles tear after the game.
The injury also turned basically the entire NBA free agency landscape on its head as teams have to figure out whether they still want to invest in a player coming off a serious injury.
