Phoenix Suns Kevin Durant home debut on hold

By Johanna-Rosalye

PHOENIX, AZ – The Valley of the Sun awaits Kevin’s Durant’s home debut with the Phoenix Suns. 

After a long wait with for anticipated arrival of the new Phoenix Suns superstar [KD] addition to the team, the day had arrived last Tuesday for the town to see him on the home court. That was until things would take a turn minutes before his anticipated home debut, where another injury would leave the superstar sidelined yet again. 

During pre-game warm-up’s Durant appeared to have landed on his ankle awkwardly after taking a shot mid court. He seemed unaffected by the awkward landing and continued to warm-up. It was moments before the game where the superstar athlete would become a late scratch against the Oklahoma City Thunder and be replaced by Torrey Craig in the starting line-up. 

The Phoenix Suns went on to beat the Thunder 132- 101. 

Suns Coach Monty Williams reported after the game “We don’t have anything official to report” and that more test would need to take place for further evaluation. 

The team later released a statement announcing that Durant would be re-evaluated in three weeks. 

While there is no timeline on Durant’s return to the court, Suns General Manager has said that Kevin Durant would play through the ankle injury if the team were [currently] playing in the playoffs. 

Durant was acquired by the Suns via trade from the Brooklyn Nets on February 9th making headlines at the trade deadline. The 13-time All-Star was recovering from an MCL sprain when he was acquired by the Phoenix Suns. Durant played in three games before going down with the ankle injury ahead of his anticipated home debut. 

During the three games Durant played for with the Phoenix Suns, the team went 3-0, averaging 26.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. 

With the season quickly coming to an end, the Suns face the seventh toughest reaming schedule in the league. Phoenix has been considered an NBA Finals Championship contender with Durant, however the teams chances for an NBA Final run become dimmer the longer Durant remains off the court.