After his surgery Wednesday, Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant received an outpour of support from a number of athletes, including Tom Brady.
Durant ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors Monday night. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the 10-time All Star is expected to miss the entire 2019-20 season due to the injury.
Brady knows a thing or two about having a serious injury keep an athlete from competing. Back in 2008, the six-time Super Bowl champion tore his ACL only minutes into the NFL season. The Patriots were ready to bounce back after losing in Super Bowl XLII the year prior. Yet, Brady was unable to do so, because his injury caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
So, when Durant made an Instagram post to share that his surgery went well and he's "hurting deeply, but is OK," Brady wasted no time before reaching out. The quarterback commented on the post to express his words of encouragement.
"You will be back better than ever….I have no doubt!!!" Brady wrote, followed by a flexed arm emoji.
Although there are a number of differing factors between Brady and Durant, given their types of injuries and their respective sports, he knows first-hand that it is possible for athletes to come back "better than ever." Since recovering from his ACL injury, Brady has won three Lombardi Trophies.
On top of physically recovering, Durant also finds himself as an intricate factor that could potentially affect a number of trade options, including the Celtics' Kyrie Irving situation, due to his injury. Though, regardless of whether the two-time NBA Finals MVP stays with the Warriors or decides to opt-out and sign a deal elsewhere, he has a year of rehab ahead of him first.
And Durant has least one member of the Patriots organization who believes in him.
A post shared by 35 (@easymoneysniper) on Jun 12, 2019 at 12:54pm PDT
