{"id":515383,"date":"2026-01-04T04:52:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T04:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/515383\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T04:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T04:52:49","slug":"kevin-durant-voices-empathy-for-nikola-jokic-and-his-knee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/515383\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant voices empathy for Nikola Jokic and his knee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few NBA stars have welcomed Nikola Jokic into the inner circle like Kevin Durant, who seemingly has always had the three-time MVP\u2019s back. Now the legendary scoring wing is thinking about Jokic\u2019s knee, too \u2014 sharing his experience from suffering a similar injury twice over his Hall of Fame career.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I don\u2019t want to see with Nikola is like, they started calling me \u2018injury prone\u2019 after that, but hopefully they don\u2019t start with him because it\u2019s one of those freak injuries that you can\u2019t really control,\u201d Durant said Thursday night<\/a> after a Rockets win. \u201cYou can do all the work you can, but somebody falls into your knee, that\u2019s just tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic went down with an apparent leg injury vs. the Heat. pic.twitter.com\/4kPf9HAOt8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Jokic hyperextended his knee on Monday against the Heat, resulting in a bone bruise<\/a>, which was diagnosed on Tuesday and carried a reevaluation date of four weeks. Given how scary the injury looked initially, that may have been a blessing, but it will still result in the most games missed of the big fella\u2019s career<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to think Jokic could even get an injury-prone label, given how little time he\u2019s missed, but Durant knows the sport and the way it is covered better than just about anyone.<\/p>\n

[Highlight] Kevin Durant walks off the court after Bruce Brown falls into his knee<\/a>
by innba<\/a><\/p>\n

Durant actually had a really similar issue in 2022 when Bruce Brown knocked into him when the two played for the Nets. Durant was hit with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, which cost him 21 games. Two years later, Jimmy Butler fell on his right knee, resulting in another sprained ligament. But if you go backward, not forward, he hurt his knee another time when Zaza Pachulia fell into him.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s good to see it\u2019s only four weeks and it\u2019s not anything too big,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an MCL sprain or Level 2; it felt like it was just a tweak and he\u2019s going to be back out there soon. He\u2019s great for the game and you want to see the best players on the floor at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Durant and Jokic are back in the same conference, and the two have had some epic regular-season, playoff and international battles over the years. There\u2019s obviously a huge amount of respect between the two stars, which is nice to see. They very well could be competing against each other for postseason seeding this year, with a possible series coming soon after. The Rockets and Nuggets have had some really hard-fought games so far in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Follow @Shapalicious<\/a><\/p>\n

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