Kevin Durant knows a thing or two about tearing an Achillies. When he saw Villanova’s Justin Moore tear his during the Wildcats’ win over Houston to move on to the Final Four, Durant knew just what the junior guard was going through.
Having been through the experience and knowing Villanova’s head coach Jay Wright well, Durant decided to reach out to try and provide some wisdom he has learned going through a similar circumstance. Durant tore his Achillies during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals when he was with Golden State and underwent surgery to repair it.
“Justin is from my area. Me and coach Wright spent a lot of time this summer, so we built a tight bond,” Durant said while explaining why he reached out. “If he ever needed something I told him I was there and vice versa. He thought it’d be cool for us to have a conversation. Just letting him know I’m here for him.”
The conversation between Durant and Moore became public knowledge after Wright talked about it on Tuesday during an appearance on Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s show on Sirius XM Radio. Wright had told the famed radio host, who became a household name due to his popular WFAN radio show Mike and the Mad Dog, that Durant was watching the game and saw the injury occur.
The Nets superstar knew exactly what had happened.
Justin Moore’s teammates immediately ran over to console him after exiting the game in the final seconds 🙏#MarchMadness @NovaMBB pic.twitter.com/47QecgXppI
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 27, 2022
“I got to work with Kevin Durant this summer with the Olympic team and he had the same injury and he told me yesterday, he said it looked exactly the same as when I did it, exact same way,” Wright said during the radio interview. And he was nice enough to FaceTime with Justin and get his spirits up. Justin had his surgery yesterday morning and is doing well. … It was really nice of [Durant]. He spent a lot of time explaining to him about the injury, how he can come back, how he had the same thing.
“He was watching the game. He said he saw it. He knew exactly what it was. And he was really great with Justin.”
Durant has clearly bounced back from the injury and has been a key cog for the Nets since his return from an MCL sprain earlier this season. The 12-time NBA All-Star has been putting up astonishing numbers in the last 13 games, averaging 31 points a game.
He scored 41 against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and it marked the third time this season that Durant has scored 40-plus points this season.
Moore will undergo surgery to repair the injury this week, Villanova announced on Sunday. The Wildcats will face the Kansas Jayhawks for a chance to go to the NCAA championship game.
