Kevin Durant injury: Suns star feared to miss regular season after slipping in warmups

Kevin Durant slipped during warmups ahead of his home debut for the Suns. The Suns fear he may miss the rest of the regular season with an ankle sprain.

Minutes before Kevin Durant was set to play his first home game for the Phoenix Suns, the superstar forward slipped and fell in warmups and suffered an ankle injury. Durant was ruled out for the game that night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and is now set to have an MRI to determine just how long this injury will keep him out.

Durant left the arena in a walking boot after the Suns beat the Thunder, 132-101. The Arizona Republic reported that the Suns fear Durant has a grade 2 ankle sprain, which would keep him out between 4-6 weeks. That would cost him the rest of the regular season, and possibly the start of the playoffs. Durant has played three games with Phoenix since being traded to the Suns from the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline.

Here’s the video of Durant slipping during warmups:

His ankle twisted in a way that ankles are not supposed to twist:

Durant continued his warumup after the fall. Here’s video taken after he slipped. He was eventually ruled out of the game and put in a boot:

This is Durant’s second major injury of the season. He suffered an MCL sprain with the Nets that kept him out nearly two months. He was traded to the Suns at the tail-end of his recovery, and Phoenix had gone 3-0 with him in the lineup since he made his return.

The 2023 NBA Playoffs are set to start April 15. The Suns are currently the No. 4 seed in the West at 37-29 overall.

We’ll update this post with more information when it’s available.