A question. Actually, by far the biggest question heading into Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night in Toronto: If you were Golden State forward Kevin Durant, would you take the court for the first time since May 8, knowing the right calf muscle you partially tore back then in a playoff game against the Houston Rockets might completely tear in this matchup with the Raptors if it hasn't completely healed?
Yes, we want our sports heroes to be all about the team, and these somewhat dynastic Warriors - winners of three of the past four NBA championships and playing for the title for the fifth straight year - must win if they are to extend the best-of-seven series in which they currently trail 3-1.
There's also the macho argument that at least four of Durant's teammates - DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson - have played in this series with injuries that almost certainly would have sidelined them during the regular season.
Conversely, let's reject this largely ridiculous argument Golden State is a better team without Durant. Over the past four NBA Finals, the Warriors are 2-0 with him on the roster and 1-1 without him. He was MVP of the title series the past two years. In a New York Post article Sunday, Warriors guard Quinn Cook referred to Durant as "the best player in the world."
Mark WiedmerAfter watching Toronto star Kawhi Leonard average more than 31 points, nine rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in these playoffs, Raptors fans might rightly dispute that. But one could argue Leonard has been aided on both offense and defense by Durant's absence. Were Durant on the court, Leonard almost certainly would be asked to guard him at some point, if not at every point, which would surely cut into Leonard's offensive numbers.
Not that Durant is necessarily expected to play. He is officially listed as questionable for Game 5. He practiced Sunday, though only after the media was unable to watch. Beyond that, he hasn't participated in a playoff game in 33 days. That's a lot of rust to overcome, even for the possible best player in the world.
That doesn't mean the so-called wise guys in Las Vegas don't see even a brief appearance by him as meaningful. The mere fact Durant might play changed the spread by as much as two to three points toward Golden State, though most still have the Raptors favored by at least 1.5.
But should he play? Should he risk all to possibly win it all a third consecutive season? And "possibly" is the key word there, because when your team is already down 3-1 and about to face a very hostile crowd and pretty fair opponent, Durant could conceivably play well - as when he scored 51 points in a loss in Toronto early in the season - and the Warriors still come up short.
In an excellent Sunday piece on CBS Sports' website, Durant's injury risk was compared to that of diminutive point guard Isaiah Thomas, who gamely ignored a serious hip injury while playing for the Boston Celtics in the 2017 playoffs.
Boston was so appreciative of that toughness, it traded Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers that summer for Kyrie Irving. The injury basically wrecked his career and cost him, according to CBS Sports, "tens of millions of dollars he would've surely been in line to make had his health not failed him."
That same article quoted Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon and the executive medical director at the Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Southern California. Of the risk Durant could face by playing, Beyer said: "If [Durant] comes back on a still partially torn calf and then fully tears it, that would be a major injury."
Beyer also said such an injury could hinder Durant for the rest of his career and that playing on an unstable calf muscle could possibly cause the player to tear his Achilles' tendon.
For a 30-year-old about to enter free agency, a player who could sign a five-year deal for $221 million to remain with the Warriors or roll the dice elsewhere, risking such injuries seems foolish. For proof, merely consider the Raptors' Leonard, who sat out most of last season due to injury, then was traded by the San Antonio Spurs to Toronto last summer.
That worked out pretty well for him, don't you think?
In this newspaper's Sunday sports section, recent Tennessee Volunteers standout Admiral Schofield - who just happens to be the featured speaker at Tuesday night's Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet - said something all athletes about to be paid for their talents should say, or at least think.
Schofield was talking about the need to protect his best interests as he prepares for the NBA draft later this month.
"Tennessee's motto was 'It's not about me,' but it's all about me now," he said. "That has been a big mental adjustment, and it feels a little weird having to be a little selfish, but you shouldn't feel that way. You've worked really hard to put yourself in this position."
Like Schofield, Durant once played for current Big Orange boss Rick Barnes during KD's lone season at Texas. Like Schofield, Barnes has always described Durant as a "team-first" player.
And should Durant take the court in Game 5, his will to win should be celebrated. But should he again rest his right calf muscle, such caution should be celebrated, too.
Because unless the franchise is going to guarantee Durant that same $221 million if his calf tears or his Achilles' tendon blows out, being a little selfish is also being very smart.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.