Thunder forward Kevin Durant undergoes foot surgery
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant had successful bone graft surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, the team announced Tuesday.
The team said that the surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Durant is out for rest of the season and is expected to resume basketball activities in the next four to six months.
The 26-year-old, six-time All-Star, missed Oklahoma City's first 17 games of the season after having surgery to repair a Jones fracture in the right foot.
"The thing people have to remember, this fracture he had is called a Jones fracture," Dr. Steven M. Raikin, of the Rothman Institute, said. "Fractures that have people's names on it generally have people's names on it because it's a bad fracture. It's a problematic injury that is very common in athletes that have to do a lot of cutting activities. It's just a tough fracture."
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Durant, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, played in 27 games this season due to various injuries, averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
"Sometimes you get somebody who comes back in a month and they do fine," Raikin said. "I've had patients who have done that. My inclination is typically to get people to wait six weeks, particularly in a sport like basketball or soccer, where there's lots of cutting, which puts lots of pressure on the bone. My feeling is a month was probably too short, and I guess history has proven me correct, though like I said some return in one month and are fine."
The Thunder have been dealing with injuries all season. Earlier this month, forward Serge Ibaka had surgery in his right knee earlier this month and will be out for the next month.
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