Kevin Durant on NBA Finals Return from Injury: 'I Was Gonna Play No Matter What'

Kevin Durant has moved on from the Golden State Warriors to the Brooklyn Nets, but he remains steadfast about one thing. 

When asked by Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning (h/t producer Rob Lopez) about the circumstances surrounding his return from a calf injury for Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, which led to his ruptured Achilles, Durant said:

"I was excited. I was like a kid. I wanted to play. It was the Finals. You don't get an opportunity to try to win three in a row. 

"Now, a lot of people said the Warriors might have pressured me, but they probably saying that they could've stop me from myself, you know what I mean? Just trying to put up a wall and say, 'No, you're not playing.' But nobody would've stopped me at that point. I was gonna play no matter what."

The 10-time All-Star added that he did not know it was a high-risk situation.

At the time of the injury, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers told reporters he didn't feel there was anybody to blame but that he would take full responsibility. 

This isn't the first time Durant has nixed any notion that Golden State mishandled his injury. During a wide-spanning conversation that Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes published in August, the 31-year-old said, "How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no."

Regardless, Durant left the Warriors in free agency and signed a four-year, $164.3 million contract with the Nets to team up with point guard Kyrie Irving.

With Ebro in the Morning, Durant also touched on his free-agency process: 

Now that free agency is behind him, Durant disclosed that Brooklyn shouldn't expect to see him play during the 2019-20 season as he continues to rehab his Achilles injury.