Report: Rockets star Kevin Durant underwent ‘minor' thumb surgery
Newly acquired Rockets star Kevin Durant underwent left thumb surgery this offseason, per Chris Baldwin of Houston's PaperCity Magazine. It was reportedly a 'minor' procedure.
'A source tells PaperCity that Rockets leadership 'did not give it a second thought' after the team's doctors looked at x-rays of the thumb,' reports Baldwin. He refers to it as a 'minor operation.'
Training camps for the 2025-26 NBA season won't open until around October 1, so Durant still has nearly three months to let the thumb fully heal before there's any sort of meaningful basketball activity.
As an All-Star forward with the Phoenix Suns, Durant averaged 26.6 points (52.7% FG, 43.0% on 3-pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season. He turns 37 years old in late September.
'During last season, Durant played through a thumb injury on his left non-shooting hand at times, wearing a thumb brace when off the court,' Baldwin writes. 'The thumb injury and quiet offseason surgery raised no concerns to the Rockets' decision makers, according to a source with knowledge of their thinking.'
This fall, Durant is expected to be the top scoring option for a Houston team that is coming off a 52-30 season with the No. 2 record in the Western Conference. With the perennial All-Star and future Hall of Famer on board, the Rockets are hopeful of making a serious championship push next season.
More: Reports: Kevin Durant to wear No. 7 jersey with Rockets
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Joseph Parker: WBO orders undisputed champion to defend title against interim titleist
Joseph Parker may get another shot at a world heavyweight title. The WBO, on Thursday morning, officially ordered the undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to defend his title against the interim champion Joseph Parker next. The respective parties have 30 days to reach an agreement, or the WBO will proceed to an open purse bid. Usyk is not aligned with a major promoter at this time, while Parker is represented by Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions. Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) is just five days removed from his sensational KO victory over Daniel Dubois to unify the four titles. The Ukrainian, who also previously held the undisputed cruiserweight championship, owns a pair of wins over Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. The first Joshua victory saw Usyk capture three heavyweight belts in 2021, while the initial Fury triumph in 2024 made him the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years, since Lennox Lewis in 1999. Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) previously held the WBO heavyweight strap from 2016-18. The New Zealander, who is widely considered the best available challenger for Usyk, is on a six-fight unbeaten run that includes upsets over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Most recently, Parker stopped late-replacement Martin Bakole in just two rounds in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Crocker vs. Donovan 2 for IBF welterweight title Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing formally announced the anticipated all-Irish rematch between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan for the vacant IBF welterweight title on Sept. 13 at the Windsor Park stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The pair were ordered to rematch by the IBF after the contentious ending to their first bout in March, which was an IBF final eliminator. Donovan was controversially disqualified for flooring Crocker with a right hook after the bell sounded to signal the end of Round 8. The Limerick man, who was well on his way to victory when he was disqualified by referee Marcus McDonnell, blamed the raucous atmosphere from the sold-out SSE Arena for his failure to hear the bell. Donovan had, however, been deducted two points earlier in the bout for use of the head — the second of which was just 45 seconds before the punch after the bell. When Jaron "Boots" Ennis announced his move to super welterweight, it opened the door for Belfast's Crocker and Donovan to square off for the vacant IBF championship. And when they do so, it will be the first time in history that two Irish boxers have contested a world title fight.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark injury update: Fever star not dealing with new injury, timetable still uncertain for her return
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark got some encouraging news Thursday. Clark is not dealing with a new injury, and did not sustain additional damage after appearing to re-aggravate her groin injury, the team announced. Clark initially injured dealt with a groin injury in June, missing multiple weeks due to the injury. She was able to return in July and played in just four games before appearing to re-aggravate the issue. Clark did not play in the All-Star Game due to the injury. While Clark doesn't appear to be dealing with a serious issue, the Fever did not put a timetable on her return. At the very least, she'll miss the team's game Thursday against the Las Vegas Aces. This story will be updated.
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
Which Nets played the best in the 2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League?
The Brooklyn Nets are finished with the 2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League after getting a chance to see four of the five rookies from the 2025 NBA Draft play. Brooklyn came away from the summer league with just a 1-4 record, but they were able to get a sense of what players like guard Egor Demin would look like against NBA competition prior to the 2025-26 campaign. HoopsHype put together a list of how each player on the Nets performed in Las Vegas and the results of their rating system should not shock any Nets fan who watched their team play in the summer league. For starters, Brooklyn center Drew Timme had himself quite the performance as he dropped 25.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. HoopsHype had Timme as the highest-performing players for the Nets, but in terms of the entire summer league, he ranked as the 55th-best player in the event. While Timme did not make the first-team or second-team All-Summer League, despite a solid case for him to be on either of those teams, it did not take away from the fact that Timme played well and caught the attention of some notable figures within the NBA space. Moving on, most Nets fans were watching the summer league to see how the four rookies that were able to play and HoopsHype had a rating for all of them. Forward Danny Wolf was the best-performing player from the 2025 class, followed by guard Egor Demin, guard Ben Saraf, and guard Nolan Traore. For context, Wolf ranked as the 182nd-best player in the summer league. Ultimately, the summer league is a small sample size so time will tell if any of the rookies will be worth their draft slot when they have to go against all that the league has to offer. However, Brooklyn comes away from Las Vegas knowing which rookies have room to improve and which ones will be able to contribute to winning basketball games next season.
