Why Kevin Durant's "Jones fracture" is a blessing in disguise for OKC?
Three weeks before the FIBA World Cup was set to begin and a week after Paul George's horrific lower right leg injury during a USA Basketball scrimmage, the reigning MVP of the NBA Kevin Durant decided to withdraw from the USA National Basketball team for the World Cup citing physical and mental fatigue.He did not want to risk injuring himself like George did and sit out games during the NBA season yet here is where the irony comes in. On Saturday during team practice, Durant sustained a "Jones fracture” in his right foot which keeps him out of action for a minimum of six to eight weeks depending upon recovery. A Jones fracture is an injury to the fifth metatarsal bone of the foot. The recovery time has been predicted based on previous cases of Jones fracture in the NBA. The Thunder General Manager Sam Presti said that Durant will undergo the usual treatment for this fracture-a surgery.Although it might be extremely frustrating to have the best player on your team, let along the best player in the league sit on the bench in a suit during games, this injury could actually be a blessing in disguise for the franchise.Here’s how:
#5 Team realizes importance of team play
At the end of the day, it’s only when five players play in complete sync with each other that games can be consistently and comfortably won. When Durant led the team last season to a 14-2 record while All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook was out, he not only put up big numbers but made the lesser known players better as well.
We saw players like Jeremy Lamb, Reggie Jackson and Steven Adams raise their games to the next level under the leadership of Durant in order to make up for the absence of Westbrook on the floor.
In last year’s Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Thunder looked completely out of sync. Their play looked more like every one of the five players taking turns at trying to create something themselves.
Maybe with their savior Durant on the sidelines, the team could face reality and start playing more team basketball rather than hero basketball.