Should he or shouldn't he have played?
It's the question looming after Game 5 of The Finals following the moment Warriors' Kevin Durant went down on the court and clung to his lower leg. It was determined to be an Achilles injury and an MRI test will occur Tuesday afternoon in New York for further evaluation.
The ten-time All-Star had been sidelined in what was originally reported to be a right calf strain that occurred in Game 5 of the second-round series against the Houston Rockets.
As KD limped away during the teams' 106-105 win over the Raptors, even Toronto superfan Drake supported him with a pat on the back. The rapper, who had been trolling the Warriors team throughout the entirety of the playoffs, grimaced as Durant was escorted to the Warriors' locker room. Tears flowed from his teammates and Warriors' general manager Bob Myers had trouble speaking during his press conference.
Everyone was impacted.
So should Durant have played? Maybe -- maybe not. But NBA veteran turned basketball analyst Charles Barkley said there is indeed someone to blame for the injury, and it's the team:
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"I blame the Warriors for KD getting hurt and I don't care what they say about it."
Charles Barkley brought the heat, saying the Warriors shouldn't have played Kevin Durant in Game 5 pic.twitter.com/uyTgg2qsCS— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 11, 2019
"That was not right," Barkley said on ESPN's "Get Up."
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"They shouldn't have put that man out there," he added.
Barkley also said, "it's the worst injury you could have" and he can't think of any player who had come back to play at the pinnacle they once were.
There's no question KD wanted to be there for his teammates -- that's why he played. And the way each and every one of them reacted when he went down proved that he plays a crucial role in that team.
Durant took to social media as he does following the Dubs' victory saying as much as he was hurting (perhaps both physically and emotionally) -- but the outcome made him feel great -- like, shot of tequila great.