Toronto Raptors: 4 Things the Durant Injury Revealed About All of Us

Golden State Warriors’ superstar Kevin Durant reinjured himself in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. His injury has provided a sobering glimpse of all of us.

Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals will go down as one of the most memorable Finals games for both the right and wrong reasons. But the game itself, while spectacular, isn’t what everyone is talking about.

The Toronto Raptors were up 3-1 against the Golden State Warriors heading to Toronto. This was their chance to win their first NBA Championship on home soil and finally give their rabid fans something they have long clamored for.

But Kevin Durant, with an injured calf and all, was returning to the fold. He looked great in the warmups and made an immediate impact on the game itself.

Durant, the back-to-back Finals MVP is the Warriors’ best player, and to many pundits, the best player in the NBA right now.

It was with trepidation that Raptors fans, already known for their fervor, watched him help the Warriors to an early lead in the first period. But just two-and-half minutes into the second quarter, Durant reinjured himself.

Durant hurt his Achilles trying to drive past Serge Ibaka. And to add insult to injury, many fans inside the building (and across the nation) cheered after realizing that Durant’s short-lived comeback would likely clinch the Raptors’ series victory.

Except it didn’t. The Warriors rallied behind a magnificent performance from the Splash Bros., Steph Curry and Klay Thompson who combined for 57 points as they edged Toronto 106-105 to survive and bring the series back to Oakland.

Durant is now permanently out for the rest of the Finals and now has his Hall of Fame career hanging in the balance.

The many reactions about his injury from the players to the fans to the media not only reveals all the different perspectives of this sport but also our basic psychological makeup as people.

NBA Players: Brothers-in-Arms

Kevin Durant has experienced an extremely volatile career trajectory. He went from the NBA’s next big thing as a former MVP of the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the top villain after he joined the 73-win Warriors in 2016. And now, he could be embracing a new role: a fallen hero.

Durant’s sacrifice showed his heart and passion and even if the sternest Durant haters can’t help but admire him. He sacrificed his body out there and may have jeopardized his career going forward. At 30, Durant had at least 4-5 years of prime basketball left.

His effort wasn’t unnoticed as players and athletes everywhere defended him. But none was as heartfelt as his own mother’s:

More noticeable, Raptors like Kyle Lowry and Danny Green came to his aid immediately following his injury. They even shushed the fans, who were cheering, as they helped Durant back to the locker room.

His own teammates led by Andre Iguodala and Steph Curry were visibly shaken. Curry was diplomatic in addressing the fan reactions although Lowry was more dismissive towards it citing it was “unacceptable”.

They may be rivals on the court, but NBA players are a band of brothers. When push comes to shove, they will come to each other’s aid even over fans, management, media, or whoever else.

"In this league, we’re all brothers Kyle Lowry"

In what could have been the final and most important game of the season, both Warriors and Raptors players focused on their fallen brother. None of it mattered at the moment.

Players have a unique experience that only a handful of individuals can relate too. They can rely on friends and family, but they’ll never be able to fully understand the experience.

Team management is incentivized to value the franchise, rather than the players. We saw Masai Ujiri unceremoniously ship DeMar DeRozan away while Danny Ainge did the same thing to Isaiah Thomas in Boston.

At the end of the day, players need to look after other players.

Monday night, the fans showed they aren’t reliable either. That that they can go from civil to savage in a few seconds.

The Fans: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

What the Raptors fans did in cheering when Durant got injured was vile and showed a complete lack of empathy. Forget about Durant as the NBA superstar and focus on Durant the person. An individual just like every single fan in that arena or in the city.

Sometimes that is forgotten in the heat of the moment. Even as contemptuous as the fans’ reactions were, it is understandable.

Raptors fans have long been one of the longest-suffering fanbases in the NBA. This is a city that had to endure seeing their team mocked for its repeated playoff failures and inability to land superstars.

Then this magical NBA season happened.

All of a sudden, Toronto isn’t Losersville anymore. The Raptors are a legitimate championship contender and Kawhi Leonard is the superstar the franchise has long desired in its 24-year existence.

Making the NBA Finals swept the city with an overwhelming abundance of passion that some just didn’t know how to react to it.

Raptors fans originally made the impression that they were amongst the best. There was nothing but praise coming from both the fans and media about the fans. There were zero initial arrests when the city celebrated when the team defeated Milwaukee.

And up until this night, there were no complaints.

But Durant’s return and subsequent injury exposed a dark side with the fanbase. The loud cheers and jeers from the arena upon seeing him clutch his leg were spine-tingling. Some fans in the baseline even smugly waved “goodbye” at him.

Sports bars across the city jumped up in celebration as if they had won the NBA championship.

Despicable.

Of course, this is a phenomenon exclusive to Raptors fans or Torontonians. Remember when the Warriors fans at Oracle cheered when Zaza Pachulia injured Kawhi Leonard?

Or what about Philly fans cheering almost every time an opposing player got injured? Jason Werth? Michael Irvin?

Texans fans were also in the spotlight for cheering for an injury towards their own player, NFL quarterback Matt Schaub.

This doesn’t excuse those actions, as every single one deserves criticism. It’s just a reflection of the unfortunate nature of a mob mentality.

It was a despicable action in the heat of the moment, and Raptors fans have stained their once sterling reputation.  The cheering was reprehensible. But it’s not a result of a specific fanbase. Canadian or American, Raptors fan or not, each fanbase is capable of dehumanizing behavior like this.

Sports Media: The Instigators

“He who controls the media controls the masses”. The late great Jim Morrisson nailed it exactly and when it comes to how fans view the players, the media must share the blame.

Even in today’s social media era, where any regular person can grow a following and become a self-proclaimed “media member”, the mainstream media still plays a critical role in influencing the minds of people.

Not only do they broadcast things like LeBron’s “The Decision” or ask inflammatory questions to get a rise of players or create triggering headlines that overstate topics, but they also paint players a certain way.

Cousins, who has had a tumultuous relationship with the NBA media, went off in a post-game interview citing how it was both the fans’ and media’s fault:

"“So trash! We’re all idolized as superstar athletes. We’re idolized for what we do between the lines and then once we lash out and do human type things, then we can sit back and …” Demarcus Cousins"

He was lamenting how the media is so quick to jump on NBA players the moment they show a human side to them. They are painted as gods among men.

Almost on cue, the New York tabloids took aim at Durant in the most tasteless of ways:

A classless move and below the belt. And yet it’s this same provocative style of “journalism” that allegedly moves the needle.

People love controversy. They love drama. They beg for the media to stir the pot.

It’s the same reason why so many sports talk shows like FOX Network’s Undisputed and The Herd and ESPN’s First Take are so popular. No one is watching them for their play-by-play analysis or intricate breakdown of basketball mechanics.

Everyone is tuning in for the narratives, no matter how outrageous.

Skip Bayless is notorious for his outlandish takes and his incessant harassing of NBA superstars like James and Leonard. Yet he has 2.9 million followers on Twitter, behind only Stephen A. Smith who is no saint himself for his scathing commentary on the players.

Jalen Rose, a former player turned media member, went the other route. He harangued both the media and fans for creating a “toxic culture” labeling Durant “soft” and playing a part in pressuring him to play.

But like the players, the media can often be viewed as a caricature: a group of individuals with an agenda. Yet they are still people. And it is as unfair to paint the general media as “bad guys” out to get the players when there are many who work tirelessly to cover a story objectively and capture the more humane aspects of sports.

Although like the classless Raptors fans who gave Canadians a bad name, the careless editors and producers of the media will continue to stain the industry.

NBA players will continue to have a love-hate relationship with them. But they aren’t the only ones.

Team Staff: A Party to Durant’s Fall?

Let’s get one thing straight: even if Durant was pressured to play, it was still his choice as a grown adult. Nobody put a gun to his head. He went out there on his own free will.

However, rumblings are starting that the Warriors’ staff may have misdiagnosed the severity of his injury. At least, according to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols:

If the reports are accurate, then the Warriors organization failed Durant. Situations like this vindicate Leonard in his decision to abstain from last season after failing to see eye-to-eye with the Spurs’ medical staff.

And this also further validates why players are a league on their own. If they can’t trust their own staff to keep them safe, who will?

Although we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, other physicians have already diagnosed Durant’s injury differently from what the Warriors were leading on.

According to Dr. David Chao, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, Durant’s injury was an Achilles injury all along:

At the press conference, Warriors exec Bob Myers was inconsolable. Here was a man who reacted as he had just seen a family relative get hurt. The tears came out of sympathy and out of guilt, although he wasn’t to blame for Durant’s injury.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr called Game 5’s victory an  “incredible victory and a horrible loss”. Like Myers, Kerr was devastated with Durant’s injury. Just a few days ago, he said he “wouldn’t have forgiven himself” if he had played Klay Thompson, who was also injured, played in Game 3 and reinjured himself.

That same nightmare scenario played out with Durant.

But both Myers and Kerr can’t be too hard on themselves. They can only do so much. As the cliche goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

With the benefit of the doubt, Myers and Kerr most likely erred on the side of caution. They wouldn’t have supported Durant playing if they knew without a shadow of a doubt it would lead to tragedy.

Playing was entirely Durant’s choice to do so. He knew the risks. It’s a sad conclusion, but the only one that matters for now.