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Friday Bolts – 8.14.15

Friday Bolts – 8.14.15
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Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report: “Durant has to find the best balance between his inherent go-often-and-go-harder mindset that has driven him to such success and has him determined to be better than ever—and easing up on his aggressiveness to protect both his short- and long-term health. On the most basic point, Durant is cleared to play fully now on a “healed” bone. But when doctors say it is “healed,” it is healed enough that based on basic evidence it should not break again; the bone will continue to heal on some small level for more than a year.”

Darnell Mayberry: “A final not-so small slice of fortune found in the Thunder’s schedule is Memphis and Golden State appearing only three times apiece instead of four. Although each will host two games against Oklahoma City, the Thunder could greatly benefit from having to play two of the conference’s best teams a combined six times rather than eight when just one game separated four playoff qualifiers last season.”

Another interesting thing from the Ding piece: “There is no reason why Kevin Durant should not be like the Lopez twins (Brook and Robin), Pau Gasol, Michael Jordan and many other folks who’ve had metatarsal fractures and gone back and played and never had a problem again,” Klapper said. “The data supports that he should come back stronger and should never have a problem with this again.

Thunder tickets go on sale Sept. 29.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “His every step will be examined, largely because he’s coming back from a right foot injury that required three foot surgeries and robbed him of all but 27 games last season. His relationship with new Thunder Coach Billy Donovan will be analyzed, because Durant was an ally of Scott Brooks and hasn’t had to adjust to a new system or personality on the bench in more than six years. And his every utterance or sagacious dodge about his pending free agency next summer will be parsed and broken down, with teams from Washington to Los Angeles, Miami to Portland and all spots in between all possessing the hope — and financial means under the league’s new salary structure — of luring Durant out of the mid-South.”

Remember: The Thunder will have special Christmas jerseys.

Jenni Carlson: “But there’s a mental component to KD’s recovery, too — he has to believe in his greatness. Frankly, I suspect that’s one of the main reasons he went to Vegas this week. Sure, he needed to be at the minicamp if he wanted to be considered for next year’s Olympic team. But since he’s coming back from injury, he could’ve sat out like several other guys did. He didn’t want to. He wanted this week to be a reminder. A reminder to all the other great players in that gym that he is coming back. A reminder to the basketball world that he deserves a lofty spot among the greats. But most importantly, it was a reminder to himself of all those things. He needed to be there to continue rebuilding his greatest-on-the-planet mentality. It doesn’t flip on like a switch. It builds with game experience. It grows with court time.”