Is KD officially back to his former self?

 

If i was to tell you a 7 foot tall 32 year old would suffer an achilles injury and come back looking just as extraordinary you would probably think it was a practical joke. An achilles injury is known for being on of the most damaging and career ending injuries in sports. It has affected many players all the way from Elgin Baylor to Isiah Thomas and even Kobe Bryant. In a study done in early 2020 about the prognosis of elite basketball players after an achilles tendon rupture researchers found that out of 12 NBA players that were being monitored throughout there rehabilitation only 1 of the 12 made a full recovery to his pre-injury peak. In that same study researchers found that players on average experienced a 43% drop in performance after their immediate return to the court.

 But it appears to be the exact opposite for KD as so far in the season he has averages of 28.2 points, 7 Rebounds, 4.8 assists, on 51.4% from the field and 45.5% from behind the arc. It's a small sample size but i don't believe it's to far fetch to say that after 552 days we can confirm that Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant again...

Before KD returned there was no way of telling if he would return to give us one of the greatest comeback stories in sports or return to be just a shell of his former self for the rest of his days. Many fans and  analyst didn't hesitate to push KD out of their top 5 list and at the time for many fans it was understandable. 

But the box score numbers suggest otherwise with KD because so far he is averaging more Points, rebounds, steals than he did in his 2019 season. Durant is getting up and down the floor is great timing, he is getting the same elevation on his jump shots and his shooting release is just as high. His first step dose not seem to have taken a hit and he is still capable to contesting shots effectively on defense. And he isn't settling for contested shots but driving past good defenders with aggression.

 Watching Durant play again is just a quick reminder of why we used to refer to him as the best player on the this planet. Even on the possessions in were KD stresses his achilles he seems to not notice it at all. Seeing Durant on the court again is a miracle in itself because 4 of of every 10 players who get an achilles injury don't even make a comeback to the NBA but instead just end up retiring. And from just 1988-2011 18 NBA players suffered an achilles injury and 7 of them never returned to ever play in the NBA again. 

In late 2020 Durant denied the chance to play in bubble with Brooklyn. During an interview with the Stewie's world podcast in August Durant would say "I just appreciate being in the gym, the workouts, the 1 on 1 sessions because of the injury. Now i just  appreciate just being there with the other guys. I miss the whole you know routine". Most players get 12 months of recovery before returning the the hardwood after an achilles injury. But KD got 18 months and it's definitely one of the reasons why he was able to return so smoothly. Now that Durant is playing with another star, a good coach, and a all around great team he just might capture his 3rd championship and FMVP in just a 5 year span and supplying us with one of the greatest comeback stories ever. So if theres one takeaway from this season is that not even an achilles injury holds the power to stop Kevin Durant.