The Durant injury hurts the Thunder in a whole new way, though, as he was not only their most important player but their last iron man around. Since becoming their centerpiece during the Seattle days in 2007, Durant played in 97% of his regular season games (missing just 16 in all) while averaging a whopping 42.3 minutes in the 73 playoff games the Thunder have played in since 2010.
There's a hold-your-breath component to this Durant injury, too, as Jones fractures (named after orthopedic surgeon Robert Jones) have a habit of healing in the most unpredictable and problematic of ways.
While surgery is expected in Durant's case, the recent stories of Brooklyn Nets big man Brook Lopez, Los Angeles Clippers forward Glen Davis, former Dallas Mavericks point guard Rodrigue Beaubois and others have shown us that a second surgery to heal the fifth metatarsal is sometimes required and recovery times with this injury may be greatly extended.
