The Phoenix Suns’ championship aspirations may have lasted exactly one month.
With just three games with his new team under his belt, Kevin Durant was already ruled out of a game with an injury.
The superstar scorer slipped and fell during a layup in pre-game warmups before facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, twisting his ankle and firing up the alarms in the Valley of the Sun.
Some early reports state that the team fears he may have suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain, which would sideline him for at least six weeks.
Kevin Durant took a fall while warming up for his first home game with the Suns 😳
He got up after. pic.twitter.com/J8SGlVQahj
— (@sportingnews) March 9, 2023
That would pretty much rule him out for the remainder of the regular season, with the first couple of games of the first round of the playoffs also in jeopardy.
Notably, this is becoming a worrisome trend with Durant, so the fans had plenty to say about this latest injury.
JESUS. pic.twitter.com/q2hTBfYsNp
— Vaughn (@L8TER_) March 9, 2023
Suns are cursed lmao
— Jim Tebow (@scotty_tsunami) March 9, 2023
Anthony Davis does this every game
— Kevin Standart 〽️ (@kstand40) March 9, 2023
How the heck his ankle gave up like that
— Master Blaster (@MastrBlaster007) March 9, 2023
im surprised this doesnt happen to him more wearing shoes many sizes too big – he the pro ball player tho not me
— urwx (@userrwx) March 9, 2023
Last year in playoffs was first time we saw Nets fans screaming on twitter to get Durant out of the game the Nets were playing better without him.
Back end of bell curve can come quick for big guys
— Knicks.City (@knickcity) March 9, 2023
There’s no denying that Durant is one of the all-time greats.
His scoring ability is nearly unmatched, and he’s a seamless fit on every single basketball team.
But he’s not getting any younger, and he’s missed more games than he’s played since he left the Golden State Warriors.
This, plus his history of insubordination, are the two biggest reasons why some teams were wary of giving up valuable assets in a trade for him last offseason.
And, while the Suns needed to take that risk and make the most of his talents while their title window was still open, this might as well go down as a negative trade in franchise history.
