Kevin Durant Undergoes Surgery on Injured Foot to Repair Jones Fracture

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot that will cause him to miss the start of the 2014-15 NBA regular season. Now, Durant has undergone successful surgery on the ailment, according to the team.

Royce Young of ESPN.com reported the news following the announcement from Oklahoma City:

Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman shared the initial statement from general manager Sam Presti:

Durant is obviously one of the biggest stars in the NBA and a catalyst for the Thunder offense. Last season, Durant took home the league's MVP trophy after averaging 32 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. As the league's leading scorer, he helped lead the team to the second-best record in the NBA and a conference finals appearance in the playoffs.

Carson Cunningham of KOCO in Oklahoma weighs in on how the injury will impact the Thunder:

LeBron James recently reached out to the superstar, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

News of the surgery for Durant makes the timetable much more certain than the previous announcement. Rather than holding out hope that he might return before the six- to eight-week window, he will not be re-evaluated now until after six weeks, as Young noted.

Being without the forward for that length of time, the Thunder will need to rely more heavily on pieces like Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka to step up. In a loaded Western Conference, getting off to a slow start could make for a difficult season in Oklahoma City.

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