5 reasons Golden State Warriors can survive Kevin Durant’s injury
By John Buhler
Kevin Durant injured his knee against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Here are five reasons the Golden State Warriors will be alright without him.
On Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., Golden State Warriors All-Star small forward Kevin Durant sustained an injury to his left knee in a road game against the Washington Wizards. Center Zaza Pachulia fell backwards into Durant’s knee when trying to go up for a rebound early in the contest. The collision caused Durant’s knee to buckle and hyper-extended it.
The Warriors released a statement today saying that Durant has suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a bone bruise. He will be reevaluated in four weeks and could potentially return for the playoffs.
Losing Durant, potentially for the rest of the regular season, hurts. However, this is a team that can overcome this type of an injury to its best player. Here are five reasons Golden State will be able to survive Durant’s knee injury for the rest of the 2016-17 NBA season.
5. Organizational stability sustains excellence
A major reason that the Warriors will be able to succeed in Durant’s extended absence is the degree of sustainability running through the organization. Golden State in recent years has handled adversity in a proactive manner.
Head coach Steve Kerr had to miss half of the 2015-16 NBA season due to complications from back surgery. Many teams would fret when missing their head coach for roughly 41 games. Golden State had the culture in place to hand the keys over to interim head coach Luke Walton temporarily. The Warriors won an absurd number of games in Kerr’s absence, ultimately setting up a single-season record for winning.
So Golden State has its newest wrinkle of misfortune to navigate? Expect Kerr and general manager Bob Myers to be pragmatic in how it handles potentially the rest of the season without Durant. Myers can acquire a free agent in the coming days to help mitigate the loss, and they have reportedly been looking at Matt Barnes. Kerr did win Coach of the Year last season, so he knows what he’s doing in on-court strategy.
The only other NBA franchise that could handle this type of a devastating loss to a franchise cornerstone would be the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio is the gold standard in terms of basketball culture. What the Spurs have built the last 20+ years cannot be understated. Golden State has had great organization culture for at least the last five. The Warriors have the mental disposition to handle a blow of this magnitude.