Kevin Durant after going down with an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
It’s June, which means that it’s time for the NBA Finals. Soon, either the Toronto Raptors or the Golden State Warriors will be crowned NBA Champions. The Raptors are up with a 3-2 lead against the Warriors, and they need to win 4 to win it all. The past two years, the Warriors have won the Finals and they are looking to go for a three peat. But, one of their star players, Kevin Durant, injured his right calf and was out for just over a month. He came back for the fifth game, but only played for twelve minutes before he left after a non-contact injury, feared to be a torn Achilles. The last game was played in Toronto, and if Toronto won then they would have been champions. So, when Durant went down, the Raptors fans started to cheer, thinking chances of winning had just increased. On one hand, the Raptors have had the best fans in the NBA, meaning the best behaved. But, on the other hand, a championship was on the line.
Raptors’ stars Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, and Kyle Lowry were obviously not fans of the cheering, and signaled to the fans to stop cheering, essentially saying “Hey, this is not okay. He is a person, too.” In a postgame interview, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry commended these men saying “I commend, obviously, Danny Green, and Kyle Lowry especially. I think they were the ones that were kind of signaling to the crowd like ‘Let’s check ourselves a little bit.’ You understand this is about an individual human being and not ‘Oh, shoot, he’s out. He’s injured. We just won a championship.’” Well, they have not won the championship just yet. The Warriors managed to comeback and eventually won by one, 106-105. Now they are down by just one game. It may seem like an impossible feat to win two games in a row without letting the other team win one, but it has been done before. In fact, the last time it happened was against Golden State in 2016. The Warriors were up 3-1, and the Cleveland Cavaliers clawed their way back in and won it all. Now, maybe the Warriors are seeking revenge; trying to do what they had done to them. Only time will tell.
Today, a Raptors fan realized that they (Raptors fans) were disrespectful, and an anonymous fan sent the Warriors’ organization flowers to apologize. The fan sent a large bouquet with a banner reading “Canada is sorry KD,” alongside a handwritten note. This was a very good move on the fans’ part, both to restore their reputation, but more importantly show that they are truly sorry for what happened in the heat of the moment, the adrenaline rush when they thought their hometown team was going to win the first Finals in the history of the Toronto Raptors.
Warriors general manager took responsibility for KD’s injury in a press conference shortly after the game, saying he believes there is no one to blame, as the decision for KD to play was a mutual decision. He said “If you have to, you can blame me.” Since KD is going to be entering free agency this summer, people are saying that Bob Myers overdid his announcement about KDs injury. He was very emotional, and a lot of NBA fans were not buying it because the Warriors are trying to resign KD to at least a one year contract, preferably longer so they think that he was more dramatic than necessary to make KD feel more wanted. After the injury, he flew to New York to have his MRI done. Since then, basketball fans have started conspiring, saying that he is for sure going to New York now. In reality, he flew to New. York to get the best medical care as soon as possible. Whatever happens, best of luck to KD and his road to recovery.~
Update: Kevin Durant was diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles and has already went through surgery.
Written by Eliza Buerk
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