If the Thunder are going to hold on the No. 8 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference, they will have to do so without the services of Kevin Durant. Last season’s MVP underwent surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot on Tuesday in New York.
Later in the day, Durant posted the above photo of himself in his hospital bed along with the following message to his Instagram account.
“Not what I envisioned coming into this season. But I’m here and ready to conquer this journey. I’ve heard it all over the last few weeks, but I’m not here to prove anything to anybody, im battling myself. When quit and negativity are staring me in my face, i will stay strong and disciplined. And I won’t do it on my own, my closest and friends and family are here to help and that’s something I will be forever grateful for. I appreciate all the well wishes from all of you guys, I appreciate it. This is just a small obstacle when I look at the big picture. THANKS TO ALL MY NBA BROTHERS THAT REACHED OUT, means a lot to me. Road to recovery. GO THUNDER, I can’t wait to play with my teammates again. LETS DO THIS”
The procedure is the third on his right foot in the past six months and it’s expected he will be able to return to basketball activities in four to six months.
Durant played in 27 games this season after suffering a Jones fracture prior to the start of the season, which led to surgery in October. His first game came on December 12 and he would miss six games later in the month due to a sprained ankle. The foot that required surgery caused Durant to only play limited minutes during the all-star game and he was only able to participate in one game since then. A second procedure was needed in February. After it was determined rehab was not going to get Durant back on the court this season, the decision was made to have this most recent surgery that would end his season.
