Durant reveals reason for surgery, relishes return

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. AP FILE PHOTO

Almost five months removed from his third surgery on his right foot which shut him down in the past NBA season, Kevin Durant bared the severity of the injury he suffered.

“It had a crack in it,” said the 2014 NBA MVP in an article on Bleacher Report.

Undergoing two foot injuries before and during the season, Durant was pulled out of the competitions on March after doctors found “signs of regression” on his recovery, which they later deemed as a crack in his fifth metatarsal bone which necessitated his third operation in less than a year.

He only played 27 games this past season.

READ: Durant to have another surgery, miss rest of season

To help the broken bone in his foot heal, Durant used a synthetic INFUSE bone-graft protein, a a material which has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, for his bone-graft surgery which needed a longer recovery time for its role in promoting a greater bone growth while protecting the bone from overgrowth.

“They stuffed some bone-graft thing in, and they pasted over the top of the area. That healed up in a couple of weeks. But then they stuck something else in there just to smooth it out and make sure it was thick. They did a lot,” he said. “I got like an extra layer of bone on the side of my foot that they put in there. That’s why it took longer to heal. Keep it firm. I could’ve gone another route with surgery. That was the longest, and that was the safest.”

The surprising “regression” he had in his foot was due to the first screw’s head, which needed to be surgically replaced, seemed to be irritating the cuboid bone near the fifth metatarsal on his foot.

And because of that, you can’t blame Durant for being a little bit more cautious in his return to the basketball court.

“I can’t do too much no more. I love putting in work; I love being out on the court. But early on, I have to ease back into that part of it—two-a-days or working out after practice or working out when I land in a city or whatever I used to do. I’ve got to ease into it, and as time goes on, just get back into my routine,” the Oklahoma City star said.

But as he joined the USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas last week, Durant is pretty confident that his injury is already healed.

READ: Durant to practice with Team USA

“I knew it was over after this: No more fracture, no more irritation in my foot. Everything was perfect in the third one,” he said.

And his confidence also seems back, as Durant said, “I feel like I’m the best player in the world.”

“That’s how confident I feel; that’s how confident I am. No disrespect to any players here. But I always got that confidence. I didn’t come here hoping to do good. I knew I was going to come out here and shoot the ball well and work hard and learn.” IDL