Kevin Durant had been looking forward to return with a flourish this season after sitting out practically the entire 2014–15 National Basketball Association (NBA) season.
Well, he was doing pretty fine until that unfortunate play in the second quarter between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards last Tuesday. Durant was driving toward the basket drawing a foul. There was really no hard collision that occurred but rather, it was his awkward landing that was the culprit.
After the play, Durant clutched onto his left hamstring. He eventually had to be pulled out and never returned for the game. The Thunder still won the match handily, 125–101, although the bad news came after that — Durant strained his left hamstring and will be out for at least a week.
The former Most Valuable Player (MVP) will be re-evaluated by then and he made it clear that he will handle this setback as maturely as possible, meaning he will not hasten the curing process. Apparently, Durant has learned his lesson from last year and paid for it dearly.
The Thunder currently tote a 5–3 record but with Durant out, it remains to be seen if they can maintain that position in the highly competitive Western Conference.
As of this writing, the Thunder were a full game behind the San Antonio Spurs (6–2) and half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers (5–4). The Golden State Warriors lead the pack with a perfect 10–0 card.
With Durant expected to miss three to five games, Russell Westbrook will have to step up once again for his injured partner. Westbrook took it up a notch last season and for the coming week, the explosive guard will have to fill up the scoring slack left by Durant.
As to who will take the place of Durant for now, Kyle Singler, Dion Waiters, and Anthony Morrow are likely to be first-year head coach Billy Donovan's options.
