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Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant's upcoming few months will be daunting ones, as returning from an Achilles injury usually is for an NBA player. Dr. Steven Weinfeld, a renowned Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, has firm belief that Durant will be able to come back to the court close to what he was at the height of his potential with the Golden State Warriors, noting he stands a much better chance to come back near his peak than other NBA stars with the same issue, like John Wall of the Washington Wizards:
“I think he'll probably be somewhere between 90 and 100 percent,” Dr. Weinfeld told Nets Insider. “That's my thought assuming everything goes smoothly and he doesn't have any setbacks I think you can expect somewhere in the 90 to 100 percent range.”
Dr. Weinfield then noted how it's different for Durant, who has patterned his game on efficiency and lethal shooting acumen, rather than Wall, who greatly relies on his athletic gifts to make things happen on the court:
“A point guard plays a different kind of game than Kevin Durant does,” noted Dr. Weinfeld. “An explosive type athlete, his demand is different than that of Kevin Durant's. You talk about odds of coming back to where he was, I think Durant's odds are better than an athlete like John Wall whose whole game is quickness and explosiveness. He [Wall] counts much more on those muscles being exactly where they need to be as opposed to a player like Durant and his style.”
Durant's game was already expected to age well, as it favors positioning and unique one-on-one efficiency over blowing past defenders and out-jumping them to get an advantage. If his rehab goes according to plan, there's little reason to think he won't come back and eventually find his old dominant self again.
