The injury heard around the world has been Oklahoma City Thunder small forward and reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant suffering a Jones fracture in his right foot. Durant is expected to be sidelined for somewhere between six and eight weeks, which means he could miss at least the first month of the season.
According to Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports, there’s a new complication: Durant doesn’t know if he wants to undergo surgery.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is still considering treatment options for the Jones fracture in his right foot and a decision about whether or not to have surgery won’t likely be made on Monday, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because a formal update had not been announced. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said on Sunday that “traditional treatment” of the injury typically required surgery and that the subsequent recovery time would likely be between six to eight weeks.
Adi Joseph of USA TODAY Sports provided an excellent breakdown of the risk in avoiding surgery via sports medicine surgeon and president of The Centers for Advanced Orthopedics Nick Grosso.
“What differentiates the Jones fracture from other fractures … it’s really more toward the back of the foot, the back end of the long bone of the metatarsal, just forward from that. That has a very low blood supply and very low healing potential (without surgery) as a result.
“Even in non-athletes, we tend to be more aggressive in treating this type of fracture. I’ve had two in the past few months where we’ve opted for surgery. … We’ve gotten more aggressive in treating this in the last 10 years. Some people still opt to treat conservatively, but a fair number of those … will go on to not heal and need surgery. But with athletes and other people who spend a lot of time on their feet, I try to talk them into the surgery right away just because it’s a higher chance of getting them up quickly.”
Dr. Mark Adickes of ESPN Insider shed light on the success rate in each approach to handling the injury.
A recent study found that Jones fractures treated without surgery had just a 76 percent chance of complete recovery, while those treated with surgery found a 95 percent return to full health.
The study further showed acute fifth metatarsal fractures treated with surgery resulted in a return to activity within four to 18 weeks, with the bulk of these patients getting back in action in eight to 12 weeks. Studies of stress fractures (Durant’s probable variety) treated with surgery show a return to play in less than eight weeks. Athletes treated with surgery are placed in a walking boot and generally kept on crutches for just one to two weeks.
If Durant opts against surgery, there’s a strong chance that he’ll run into trouble later down the line.
It’s not hard to understand why Durant wouldn’t want to undergo surgery. A six-to-eight week timetable seems shorter when written as it is, but that equates to two months of basketball.
That includes roughly a month-and-a-half of the regular season.
By the end of November, Oklahoma City will have completed 17 games. The Thunder then play another seven games within the first 14 days of December, which plays into the projected timetable for Durant’s return from injury.
To play more than a quarter of the season without the reigning MVP would be a major blow, no matter how well Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka play.
Beyond the competitive drive is the reality that, whether applicable to Durant or not, surgery is dangerous. The recovery process is often tedious, albeit rewarding, and can appear more strenuous than playing through pain.
Regardless of what Durant chooses to do, the NBA will hang on his every decision. The statistics show that the four-time scoring champion would be better off with the surgery, but that decision is his and his alone.
If Durant is to undergo surgery, the likelihood of Oklahoma City collapsing in a 17-to-25 game period without him is slim. Westbrook was stellar in the 2014 Playoffs, Ibaka is a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year and the Thunder find ways to win in the regular season.
Even if OKC runs into trouble, there’s a projected 57-to-65 games remaining to right the ship. That’s a massive part of the schedule, and it should eliminate most concerns about the upcoming season.
The question is, will Durant take care of this issue before it develops into something else?
MCW Setback
In early May of 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers announced via the official team website that point guard Michael Carter-Williams had undergone successful surgery to repair a tear in the labrum of his right shoulder. While it was a setback, the injury generally keeps athletes sidelined for roughly four months.
Five months later, Carter-Williams isn’t even close to a return.
While no exact timetable had been given, the common recovery process was around the previously alluded to four months. Most expected him to return within six months, thus making him ready for either the start or the early games of the 2014-15 regular season.
According to Tom Moore of The Intelligencer, Carter-Williams could miss as many as four more months.
Carter-Williams said Monday that his original diagnosis was that he’d miss six to nine months, which seems to mean the injury was more serious than typical labrum surgery and/or he’s recovering slower than expected.
“I’m plenty ahead of schedule,” Carter-Williams said after Monday afternoon’s practice.
Asked about the two- to four-month timetable, MCW replied, “That’s not true at all…There’s no specific set date (for my return),” he said.
Six months would mean he’d return at the beginning of November, thus missing only one or two weeks of basketball. Nine months would mean he’d be absent until February.
That’s the very definition of recovering without a timetable.
Carter-Williams is coming off of a 2013-14 season in which he won Rookie of the Year. He averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals in a season in which Philadelphia went 19-63 and lost 26 consecutive games.
Many have criticized the Sixers organization for what has been labeled as a blatant display of tanking. There’s no way to prove whether it was or wasn’t, but Philadelphia wasted no time in trading breakout star Thaddeus Young to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the first sign of progress.
Young, 26, averaged a team-best 17.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in 2013-14. The players whom he was traded for, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved, combined to average 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest in that same season.
A 2015 draft pick via the Miami Heat is decent compensation, but this was yet another questionable move by the 76ers.
It’s beyond a leap to link Carter-Williams’ unknown timetable with tanking. That’s not the intention here.
Instead, this is acknowledging the fact that Philadelphia has set itself up to lose. Missing Carter-Williams, its most proven commodity, could now miss half of the season.
The front-runners for the No. 1 pick play in Philadelphia.
Around The League
- During the Charlotte Hornets’ 99-97 preseason win over the Orlando Magic, starting point guard Kemba Walker suffered a left knee contusion. Fortunately, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports that Walker feels fine and only needs to take a few days to rest. After a recent string of severe knee injuries to point guards such as Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, this is refreshing news.
- According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Philadelphia 76ers promoted Rod Baker to a position as a scout. Baker had been the head coach of Philadelphia’s D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers.