The basketball world is still reeling from Kevin Durant’s injury during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Durant returned from the right calf injury that kept him out for more than a month and looked excellent, but early in the second quarter, he planted his leg and went down in obvious pain. He was helped to the back, did not return, and eventually, it was announced that Durant hurt his achilles.
Obviously this is a huge deal, both in terms of this Finals and what could happen will the dozens of dominoes that are in line to fall this summer due to Durant’s potential free agency. But beyond that, many were put off by the fans at Scotiabank Arena who cheered after Durant went down. They eventually gave him an ovation and a KD chant, but not until after a number of Raptors players told them to settle down.
It was an odd moment, and it led to a wide range of reactions among the Warriors, whether it was confusion, anger, or something in between. Few players were as furious as Klay Thompson, who was visibly upset with this on the floor and wasn’t much happier after the game.
“That was bullsh*t,” Thompson said, per Sam Amick of The Athletic. “It was crazy. Did you hear it? Yeah, that’s ridiculous. That’s frickin’ ridiculous. I can’t even put into words how mad I was about that. When I see (rapper) Tory Lanez’s dumbass cheering about his injury…That’s unbelievable. Now I do respect the Raptors for telling them to shut up though. That’s not cool.”
The cloud of Durant’s injury hung over Game 5, both because a person got injured and because of the reaction to the crowd. It was an exceedingly crappy moment, one that sat especially poorly with Thompson.
