Life has come a full circle for Kevin Durant. The last time he played in the NBA was in Game 5 of the 2018-19 NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors. Fast forward 18 months and the 32-year old is back from the Achilles’ tendon injury and will face the Warriors on the opening night of the 2020-21 season wearing the Brooklyn Nets’ jersey.
The two-time NBA champion said he has tried to be the best version of himself while returning to the much-awaited on-court action. “Every drill that I’ve done, I’ve been going as hard as I could,” said Durant. “I’ve been in the league for 14 years. Even if I didn’t have an Achilles’, I probably wouldn’t be 100 percent. So the wear and tear over time, I guess, but I feel solid.”
Achilles tendon injuries can be exhausting to come back from, but Durant didn’t let the long road back to recovery get to him. “It actually wasn’t that frustrating, to be honest. I enjoyed having a lot of ‘me time’ away from you all and the NBA life in general,” said Durant while speaking to reporters.
Before the injury stopped him in tracks, Durant was one of the most feared basketball players in the world winning two titles with the Warriors and the Finals MVP in both the championship runs. A few years before getting his championship rings, Durant had already established his credentials winning the League MVP in 2014 playing for Oklahoma City Thunder.
When asked if he was back to his MVP form, he shrugged off the question saying he was feeling good playing the sport and not thinking about the awards at the moment. But Durant admitted he would find it difficult to be judicious coming at the back of a long injury layoff. “I enjoy playing an if and when Coach tries to pull me out early unexpectedly, of course, I’m going to push back, but I know they have my best interest,” the Nets superstar said.
Durant will form one of NBA’s blockbuster pairing with his friend Kyrie Irving that will look to dominate the Eastern Conference. “We both respect each other’s’ game, we know each other’s game inside out. We know what championship level basketball looks like,” he said.
But what if the duo became a trio with James Harden’s speculated move to Brooklyn. Durant wasn’t bothered. “Whatever happens, we have to be prepared for everything,” said Durant. When further probed on his role in getting the Houston Rockets cornerstone to his team, Durant said these are all made up stories. “I heard all the noise and James potentially wanted to come to the Nets. Nothing is set in stone till it is set in stone,” Durant concluded.
