Brooklyn Nets superstar small forward Kevin Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season recovering from the Achilles tear he suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Durant, who met with Nets reporters on Tuesday via Zoom, talked about just how challenging his Achilles recovery was.
“It was definitely new. I never experienced anything close to that,” Nets star Kevin Durant said, via Basketball News.
“Learning how to walk again, not walking and getting assistance in everything you do those first 3-4 months (before joining the Nets) was tough. I’ve been through surgeries and injuries before, but the longest recovery I had was three months.
“The first days of the Achilles was three months long. Couldn’t walk or run, had to use a scooter, so I think those milestones, and learning how to walk, run and jump again, that’s underestimated. People don’t realize that. The Achilles, that ligament, is one of the strongest ligaments in your body, but after it pops, you have to build that back up.”
Durant has been 100 percent for a while now and is ready to make his Nets debut this season. The two-time Finals MVP, along with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, is eager to bring a championship to Brooklyn.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder and Warriors, Durant has career averages of 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists. The Nets are title contenders with Durant and Irving leading the way. The team also has a really talented supporting cast in Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan.
The Nets face a loaded Eastern Conference whose depth was on full display in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics were the top three seeds in the East and all viewed as legitimate title contenders, but the fifth-seeded Miami Heat won the conference and advanced to the NBA Finals.
With that being said, Durant and the Nets will have to make their way through a thicket of quality teams in order to play for a championship in 2021.
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