PHOENIX — Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal returned to the Phoenix Suns lineup Tuesday night in an Emirates NBA Cup Game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Footprint Center.
It had been a while.
The pair missed a combined 14 games, costing the Suns $8.9 million in salary, according to figures amassed by Spotrac. The Suns, who opened 8-1 before Durant suffered a left calf injury, were 1-6 in their absence, playing poorly at times with a depleted lineup.
Beal also had a left calf injury; add that to the list of the maladies he’s suffered since the Suns obtained him in a trade with Washington prior to the 2022-23 season. Tuesday night was only the 53rd game—including playoffs—the Suns have played with their big three on the court at the same time: Beal, Durant and Devin Booker.
The trio combined to score 72 points in a 127-100 blowout win.
The multiple injuries suffered by these players have caused the Suns to create a balance between trying to keep players healthy and winning basketball games.
“I love the fact that I have a staff that dials me back,” Beal, 31, who scored 23 points in 27 minutes, said. “They do a really good job of looking at the big picture. We want to be playing in June.”
The Suns had five days off in between games, giving both Durant and Beal a chance to finish healing.
“I don’t think I could’ve come back any sooner,” said Durant, who had 23 points in a season-low 30 minutes. “I’m just grateful that that little break gave me a few extra days. If it wasn’t for that break I might have missed 11 games. It just came at the perfect time.”
As it is, Durant missed seven games at the price of $4.3 million.
What’s happened to the Suns is not singular. It’s part of a league-wide injury epidemic to start the season, which is being examined by the NBA’s competition committee. Barely a quarter of the way in, and with the NBA Cup Finals slated for Dec. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, 213 players have already missed at least one game. Per NBA data, 172 games have been lost to injuries to star players, up from 119 last season at this point. Some of them have been in and out and suffered multiple injuries, like Beal, who also missed a game earlier in the season because of a sore right elbow. Take note there are only 360 active roster spots in the NBA—12 a team—at any given time.
The list is a Who’s Who of NBA royalty and costs the sport on multiple levels artistically and financially.
Kawhi Leonard has missed 18 games and counting with a knee injury, costing the Los Angeles Clippers $10.2 million. Khris Middleton has missed 17 games with an ankle injury, worth $6.4 million of his Milwaukee Bucks salary. Kristaps Porzingis just returned to the Boston lineup Monday night after missing the first 17 games with a leg injury, which set the defending champion Celtics back $5.7 million.
The top 25 most expensive players on the Spotrac list cost their teams a combined $120.3 million already this season.
Like the Suns, the Philadelphia 76ers have been particularly hard hit by injuries. Joel Embiid (knee), Paul George (knee) and Tyrese Maxey (hamstring) have been in and out, tallying $12.5 million and 23 games missed. Consequently, the Sixers have languished on the court, opening 3-13.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who has a $49.2 million contract for this season alone, has already missed a game with a knee injury worth $4 million and is recently managing a left calf contusion.
But Towns’ coach, Tom Thibodeau, said injuries are nothing new.
“When you really dig deep into it, you see that injuries have always been a part of the game,” Thibodeau said in an interview. “When you’re playing pro sports the only way you can guarantee an injury won’t happen is don’t participate. Don’t practice, don’t play, don’t do anything. You’ll never get hurt.”
The Embiid situation cost the Sixers a lot more than money. He came into camp out of shape because of a left knee injury after playing for the gold medal-winning Team USA in the Paris Olympics. He had surgery and missed 43 games last season. This season, Embiid pushed a local columnist, drawing a three-game suspension from the NBA. And finally, Maxey reportedly called him out in a team meeting for his lack of conditioning and lackadaisical play.
He’s still nursing the knee injury even as the Sixers are paying him $51.4 million this season. Sixers coach Nick Nurse was not pleased with his actions leading up to the suspension, saying earlier in the season that none of his players should touch a writer.
“I’m not sure either person behaved right,” Nurse said about the altercation with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes, who called Embiid and the Sixers out for lack of transparency about the injury. “Everybody’s got a job to do, and both sides need to do them better.”
Like Embiid, Durant also played for Team USA last summer and sustained a similar left calf injury that kept him out of all practices and competition until the Olympic Games actually began.
The playoff and summer competition may be one of the reasons for so many early injuries, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley theorized.
“A lot of these guys have come back after working hard throughout the summer,” he said. “And that comes out of how hard they played during playoff runs last season. So, there was a big body of work this summer when they start the season. Guys were playing hard and trying to carry teams. That’s some of it.”
Durant has a history of injuries, including a calf that led to a torn Achillies tendon during the NBA Finals in 2019, his last year with the Golden State Warriors. Subsequently, he missed the entire 2019-20 season after surgery and signing with the Brooklyn Nets.
Since being dealt to the Suns at the 2023 trade deadline, Durant, injured at the time, has played in 92 regular season games and 15 playoff games.
Like with Beal, the Suns have to balance injury management with playing time for the 36-year-old Durant. He averaged 38.8 minutes in the club’s first nine games before suffering the recurring calf injury Nov. 8 in a last-second win at Dallas.
“Kevin is aware of his experience with the calf throughout his career and just trying to take care of his body,” said first-year Suns coach Mike Budenholzer. “We’re going to be careful. He’s going to be careful. I think careful is an appropriate word. He wants to play, and we want him to play. But he can’t play until we think he’s ready.”
Budenholzer stressed that the Suns staff spends as much time working with the players on their bodies as it does looking at videos and mapping out game strategies. That includes strength and conditioning, massage “or preventive-type stuff” the team does every day.
“By and large I think that’s the best way to attack and hopefully prevent injuries. But nothing’s perfect,” he said.
Thibodeau agreed that there’s a huge value staying in shape to avoid nagging injuries.
“When you look at the players who’ve been durable, it’s usually the ones who’ve been in unbelievable shape and prepare year-round and prepare themselves for the long season they’re going to go through,” he said.
Durant stays in magnificent shape, and takes hundreds of shots after practice and on the court pre-game. But even that can’t avoid the recurring injuries to calves and hamstrings. Once a player becomes locked in that cycle, it’s hard to break it.
That means more missed games, costing the league style, the team wins and the owners a lot of money.
“I felt amazing,” Durant said. “But I could’ve been better.”