Warriors Rushing Back Kevin Durant After 1 Practice Would Be Incredibly Unfair to KD
By Mark Powell
Kevin Durant's right calf strain will keep him out of the first two games of the NBA Finals at least. There's some expectation that KD will be back by Game 4, yet he still has yet to practice or participate in on-court activities.
With that in mind, Warriors coach Steve Kerr fielded questions on Sunday about the plan in place to get Durant involved in this series, at some point. According to Kerr, the Dubs won't rule out playing Durant after just one practice, which feels extraordinarily rushed.
Warriors' Steve Kerr: 'It's feasible' for Kevin Durant to return after 1 practice. #NBAFinals https://t.co/X07dslxjvO pic.twitter.com/inSi9rpOoo
— theScore (@theScore) June 2, 2019
"It's really a day-to-day thing," Kerr told reporters Sunday. "If we had a crystal ball, we would have known a long time ago what we were dealing with. It's just an injury; there's been a lot of gray area.
Kerr went on to insist that it is indeed feasible for Durant to come back after just a single practice. This, of course, would be a major mistake for Durant.
.@warriors Kevin Durant walks on the court during a practice session before Game 2 of the #nbafinals in Toronto, Ontario on June 1, 2019. @KDTrey5 #kevindurant #StrengthInNumbers #dubnation #Warriors @NBA @Raptors #TorontoRaptors pic.twitter.com/p8CLsWfzSg
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) June 2, 2019
Sure, winning another NBA Finals is paramount, especially for Durant and the Warriors' legacy. Yet, with rumors abound that KD is likely to leave Golden State this summer, doing anything to impact his value before he's ready is inconsiderate of the Warriors and would frankly be a rash decision we're not used to from the dynasty of this generation.