Former Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki has chimed in on the Achilles injury of Golden State Warriors star forward Kevin Durant. For the recently-retired Mavs icon, it was ‘super tough' to watch.
In an appearance on the Dennis and Cowlishaw show on ESPN Dallas 103.3, per Dallas Morning News, Nowitzki said noticed that Durant and the Warriors established a great rhythm in Game 5 — KD's first game back since suffering a calf strain over a month ago. However, the former league MVP admitted that he was already worried about Durant's initial injury.
“It was super tough to watch. He had a great rhythm already there even though he'd been out for a month and he looked like he had a pep in his step and he was talking some trash on defense and he looked great and unfortunately that happened. It didn't look good right away, so I was really worried,” Nowitzki said.
“But honestly, I was really worried when he got hurt a month ago, when he looked behind him and there was nobody there. That's never a good sign. So I was worried for him, because you never want to see an athlete get hurt, especially in the playoffs. “
The 14-time All-Star briefly recalled his earlier years in the NBA and with the Mavs, particularly when he was out due to some knee problems. From his point of view, it was okay to suit up and take a risk. After all, he was still young and had relatively healthy knees. But Don Nelson — his coach during that time — did not want him to play. Later on, Nowitzki realized that Nelson made the correct decision.
“I wanted to go full on. I got this hard workout in my pregame and I was all sweaty and Nelly was like, ‘I don't care how he looks down there, I'm still not going to play him.' He stepped up major for me and honestly, I told him after the game, I was just standing around and cheering for the guys, getting up and down, my knee was a little sore. So at the end of the day I think he made a great call.”
It's a great story by Nowitzki. He did clarify that he and Durant's situation are totally different, adding that he's pretty sure that the Warriors' staff thought hard about the decision and “they obviously thought he had healed up fine.” As they say, however, such injuries are part of the game.
It was just unfortunate that Durant got hurt.
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