Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant will undergo surgery on his foot and is expected to be sidelined four to six months, the team announced Friday.
Durant will undergo a bone graft to help fix the foot.
On March 20, Durant was removed from basketball activities because of persistent foot soreness, and general manager Sam Presti said Durant likely would be shut down for the remainder of the season.
“He’s not making the progress that we’d hoped or expected,” Presti said then.
Durant, 26, missed the first 17 games of the season after undergoing surgery in October to repair a fracture in his right foot.
He underwent a small procedure last month to help alleviate pain in the right foot and has not played since. The original screw that was set in Durant’s fifth metatarsal (the long bone on the outside of his foot) was rubbing against his cuboid bone, producing soreness.
Durant is averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 27 games this season.
The Thunder are 41-31 and hold a three-game lead for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.