With Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant set to miss at least four weeks after being diagnosed with a sprained MCL and a bone bruise on his left leg, the Warriors are simultaneously counting their blessings and anxiously waiting on such blessing to manifest.
Durant will be re-evaluated in four weeks, and there are no guarantees he plays before the regular season ends six weeks from now. Still, after Tuesday night’s MRI, there were fears of a worse outcome. Sources told ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne that Durant was initially told he had suffered a fractured tibia as opposed to a bruised tibia, which would have ended his season.
In a conference call Wednesday, Warriors GM Bob Myers eventually conceded that the diagnosis was “good news,” albeit in a tepid, roundabout way.
“I know there were some reports about what it might have been, but it’s hard in this era,” Myers said. “No medical decision should be made in half an hour or an hour, but I understand the desire to get information when something like this occurs. So you try to be a little patient. In light of what some said what it might have been, yes.”
Myers then added that, absent Tuesday night’s fears, it is of course bad news to miss an MVP-level player for an indeterminate amount of time.
“Is it good news to miss one of your players with an injury like this? No, that’s not good news," Myers said. "But I guess it could be worse, I suppose.”
Of the timetable, Myers emphasized, “At this time it’s just speculation to guess when that is. He’ll heal when his body heals.”
Myers spoke to a time frame Tuesday night when a different diagnosis was expected, saying, “Yes, there was a moment where there was a potential different diagnosis, but that didn’t last too long and most of it was, 'Let’s get another image to make sure we have a clear look at this.' And that’s what determined the final diagnosis as I was told.”
Myers elaborated on those frightful moments: “I don’t know if it was 10, 15 minutes. To be clear, the messaging was, the MRI is somewhat equivocal, let’s get some better imaging. It could be A or B, but nobody was comfortable making a diagnosis until we saw a clearer image. At least the doctors felt that way of his CT scan. And the reason that was relevant or is relevant is when you’re dealing with a bone bruise which is also referenced on the [press release], as what he has, the CT scan gives you much more clarity on a bone injury or a bone bruise, much more than an MRI. So that’s where the MCL sprain showed up, but we needed to get more specificity in that period.”
He added that the CT scan gave the final verdict, saying, “In that period there was speculation as to what it might or might not be, but ultimately the CT scan cleared up any of the vagueness and that’s the diagnosis.”
Based on Myers' comments and the amount of time left in the season, the Warriors aren’t out of the woods in regard to Durant. However, still needing to get out of the woods is preferable to some of the outcomes feared Tuesday night.