NBA: 20 Predictions for the 2014-15 Season

18.  Kevin Durant will take longer than expected to recover

What’s the worst event in sports?  Unfortunate home losses?  Coaches getting fired?  Players losing a long-awaited championship?  Nope, nope, and nope.

Injuries.

Any injury is a disappointing twist to a player’s season.  It hurts one’s health, and a team’s chance at winning games, or ultimately winning in the postseason.  Injuries to the league’s brightest, lustrous stars leaves a nauseating feeling in our stomachs.

Kevin Durant is the last person you’d want this to happen to.  The reigning MVP was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his foot on Oct. 12, and nobody initially knew what to expect.

Primarily caused by stress, and not actual contact, the fracture is defined as a broken bone in the midsection of the fifth metatarsal of the foot, near the outside.  So, it’s near the little toe, and generates more pain than you would imagine.  It’s not something you can just “shake off.”  Durant underwent surgery days after, and is expected to recover within 6-8 weeks.  More than likely, Durant had a screw placed in his foot — common with this injury — and it will enable him to get back to activities quicker.

However, it usually takes a larger toll on the player than expected.  Sometimes, they aren’t always ready to return right after the timetable.  Some Oklahoma City optimists were banking on Durant missing just six weeks, but that’s when he’ll be evaluated again.  Until that date, we won’t know a single word on how much longer Durant has.

Last year, a rookie suffered the same injury and didn’t have the most positive recovery results.

C.J. McCollum, guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, was forced into surgery for a Jones fracture before the 2013-14 year.  He didn’t appear in NBA action until Jan. 8, meaning it took him 11 weeks to feel comfortable.  Again, he was just a rookie, and typically an organization will try to save their future youngblood until they’re 110 percent ready to go.

While everything on Earth was wrong with Nets’ Brook Lopez and his foot, he did have a Jones fracture repaired as well.  It may be a bad measuring stick considering Lopez had numerous foot injuries, but it’s worth noting.  Lopez took the route of surgery for it, and missed the last four months of the 2013-14 season.

It’s all dependent on how the player feels upon re-evaluation, and their work ethic in the rehabbing process.

Nobody should bet against a guy that’s fresh off averaging a stat line only Michael Jordan has ever matched.  However, there should be a bit of a scare, since Durant is nearly seven-foot tall.  He doesn’t pack the weight, but he’s a large human.

Foot injuries can be tricky, and I’ll take the over on Durant missing 6-8 weeks.  Prepare for him to return on Dec. 31, vs. Phoenix.

That’s 32 games, Westbrook.  Chase your own greatness, but keep the team afloat.