Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles injury which forced him to exit Game 5 of last night's NBA finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors forward was playing his first game since returning from a calf injury.
Early in the second quarter, Durant - a player who could have helped turn this series in the Warriors' favour - was pictured sitting on the court, grabbing his right leg. He was subsequently helped to his feet by teammates and limped to the dressing room.
The immediate reaction of the Toronto home crowd was the cheer the injury. Durant's absence would be a boon to their chances of claiming a first ever NBA title. Toronto went into the game with a 3-1 lead but the Warriors edged it last night, 105-106.
As the crowd voiced their delight, Toronto players urged the crowd to not do so. They later cheered Durant from the court, chanting 'KD'.
Steph Curry, the Warriors' star player, said he hopes to not see that type of reaction from a crowd should there be a similar occurrence in the future.
"I've lived here and I've really enjoyed the people and their passion," Curry said after his side's win.
I'm very confused around that reaction. It's not my experience with the people of this city. I commend Danny Green and Kyle Lowry especially, they were the ones signalling to the crowd, 'Let's check ourselves a little bit. You've got to understand this is about an individual, a human being'. 'He's hurt we can win the Championship,' that was probably the initial thought. We hate to see that when a guy is going through pain like that.
That's not my experience with this city. I hope we don't see that type of ugliness again.
Curry's backcourt teammate Klay Thompson was also angered by the reaction.
Klay on the Toronto fans cheering KD’s injury: “It was bullshit. That was freaking ridiculous. I can’t even put into words how mad I was about that.”
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) June 11, 2019
In the post-match pres conference Warriors GM Bob Myers cut an emotional figure as he spoke about Durant's injury.
