After discussing it for nearly a week, Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant finally underwent surgery at the OrthoCarolina Foot and Ankle Clinic in Charlotte, N.C., the team announced Thursday.
Durant will be re-evaluated in six weeks. Recovery time for the injury is supposed to be between six and 10 weeks, but that depends on how the fracture heals. These types of injuries are prone to re-fracture. Medical sources have indicated that blood flow can complicate healing in the bone, which is located three-quarters of an inch from the pinky toe.
Durant will be re-evaluated Nov. 27. Give an extra two weeks to get back into game shape and that puts him back to Dec. 11, with a good couple of weeks before the Christmas Day games, which are big for the league. Durant will miss somewhere between 16 and 24 games based on that timeline. Obviously that can increase if complications arise, and it could be shortened if Durant makes unexpected progress.
Russell Westbrook obviously takes over as "the man" for the Thunder, despite saying he won't change his game with Durant out. I covered other bench members who could have an impact here. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com broke down the impact for Westbrook in detail here.
There had been questions about whether Durant would even have surgery. Avoiding it might have allowed him back on the court sooner, but also would have increased odds of a setback, according to literature on the subject. So it's six weeks at least for the Grim Reaper. Hopefully his recovery goes well and the best offensive player in the NBA comes back strong as ever.
