Kevin Durant Should Consider Suing Warriors Staffers Who Wrongly Cleared Him to Play

Kevin Durant's career could be in jeopardy after he suffered an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday night. The two-time reigning Finals MVP got injured after just 12 minutes of play, which makes you wonder was he even permitted to return to the court in the first place.

Durant put his trust into the Warriors' doctors, training staff, executives, and coaches, and they let him down. A group consensus must have assured him and the rest of the team that he really was ready to play again. This massive instance of mismanagement will severely impact KD's future in terms of earnings as well as his all-time legacy as a player-- and he should consider taking legal action if he believes that there are in fact Warriors staffers that gave him the go-ahead knowing that his future could authentically be at risk.

Durant's situation feels awfully similar to Kawhi Leonard's scenario in San Antonio, but in the latter case, Leonard refused to play even after Spurs team doctors cleared him of a troublesome quad issue. He even requested a trade from the team he previous led to champiobship glory for having allegedly misdiagnosed his injury. Now, Kawhi is on the verge of another Finals MVP award, while Durant could miss an entire season due to a torn Achilles. On top of it all, his true prime years as an MVP-level player could be over altogether.

It also recalls the fallout of Bill Walton's exit from the Portland Trail Blazers after his injury-shortened MVP season in 1978. He famously sued then-team doctor Robert Cook -- not the Blazers themselves -- for millions of dollars for allegedly mishandling foot injuries that robbed him of what should have been a years-long run as an all-world center. The parties later reach a settlement of an unknown dollar amount.

You have to wonder about the competence of the Warriors' training staff after this incident. This isn't just about Durant; the team is completely banged up, and yet are still dangerously playing through it. Kevon Looney played through cartilage fracture and that should have relegated him to the sidelines, but he's being allowed to fight through it an play. Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson are far less than 100% and face real risk of aggravation as well. This is clearly a systemic issue in Oakland. This sheer number of notable injuries is simply unheard of.

Durant's tragic saga could officially put an end to the glorification of toughing out injuries. It's simply not worth it for players to risk their careers like this, especially since multiple professionals behind the scenes have clearly shown questionable judgement. There needs to be repercussions for misdiagnoses, Durant could set the precendent by doing exactly what Bill Walton did in the wake of his messy exit from the Blazers.