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Future NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Durant is currently gearing up for his first season with the Houston Rockets after he was traded there from the Phoenix Suns earlier this offseason. Durant has had one of the most impressive comebacks from a major injury in recent sports history, having overcome his 2019 torn Achilles and largely resembling the best version of himself in the years since.
Durant, who has never been shy to engage in a debate or two with fans on X, formerly Twitter, recently responded to a tweet about players in the modern NBA not playing the full 82 games as often as they used to with an interesting theory about the increase of injuries in today's game.
“The games faster nowadays, more running, more stress on your ligaments. It’s called evolution, the fans of the nba have yet to grasp that concept,” said Durant.
Indeed, the modern basketball game does feature much more cutting and running overall than it did in previous generations due to the rapid increase in pace in the NBA over the last several years. Thus, there are simply more opportunities for players to suffer non-contact injuries like Achilles tears during a game today than there were in previous decades.
This postseason, three NBA stars–Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard–went down with Achilles tears, and all are expected to miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season.
A changing game
Another factor to consider when discussing the rise of injuries in the modern NBA is the fact that today, many players have already been playing basketball year-round through things like AAU and other organizations for over a decade by the time they enter the league, meaning there is more wear and tear on their body earlier into their careers.
This fact makes it even more impressive that Durant, alongside his counterparts like James Harden, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James, have been able to sustain elite play well past what is normally considered a player's prime years.
The Rockets hope Durant will be able to continue that moving forward into 2025-26.
