Durant first to update fans on his ruptured Achilles

OAKLAND, California - Kevin Durant on Wednesday confirmed what Golden State Warriors fans most feared: He underwent surgery for a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

Durant posted on social media about the severity of his injury two days after being hobbled during Monday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto in his return from a strained right calf that sidelined him for a month.

The 30-year-old posted a photo on Instagram showing himself in a hospital bed and wrote: "I wanted to update you all: I ruptured my Achilles. Surgery was today and it was a success. EASY MONEY."

Just 15 minutes before Durant went public, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he didn't yet have an official update on the player's status.

Durant has made his own announcements before, such as writing on The Players' Tribune website about his decision to leave Oklahoma City to join Golden State in July 2016.

The Warriors said later on Wednesday that Durant had the surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Kerr said everyone in the organization is "devastated", including Dr Rick Celebrini, the team's director of medicine and performance.

The Warriors made a "collaborative" decision to clear Durant to play in Game 5 - with the input of Durant and his representative - and had no idea that he risked a serious Achilles injury by returning from a strained calf, Kerr said.

"Now, would we go back and do it over again? Damn right," said the coach.

"But that's easy to say after the results. When we gathered all the information, our feeling was the worst thing that could happen would be to reinjure the calf. That was the advice and the information that we had. At that point, once Kevin was cleared to play, he was comfortable with that, we were comfortable with that. So the Achilles came as a complete shock.

"I don't know what else to add to that, other than had we known that this was a possibility, that this was even in the realm of possibility, there's no way we ever would have allowed Kevin to come back."

A teary Bob Myers, the Warriors' general manager, asked anyone who was looking to place blame to do so on him - not Durant, the medical staff or athletic trainers.

Kerr said he also understands people wanting to point blame somewhere, though he noted: "Kevin checked all the boxes, and he was cleared to play by everybody involved.

"I completely understand the world we live in. As Bob mentioned the other night, there's going to be blame. There's going to be finger-pointing. We understand that and we accept that," Kerry added.

"This is kind of what you sign up for when you get into coaching, general management, in the NBA.

"There's all kinds of coverage, judgment, criticism, and it's all part of it. So we accept that. The main thing is our concern for Kevin and these last couple of days just checking on him.

"Obviously, everybody feels horrible for what happened."

Durant initially was injured on May 8 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, then missed the next nine games.

A pending free agent, it's unclear what might be next for Durant now that he is set for a long rehab and recovery.

Associated Press