Kevin Durant: Oklahoma City Thunder forward out for rest of the season and play-offs because of foot surgery

Durant won the MVP award last season

Kevin Durant could be offered a $320m shoe deal with Under Armour (Getty Images)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant will miss the rest of the NBA regular season, and the play-offs, as he needs surgery on his foot.

The 26-year-old won the league's Most Valuable Player award last season and is considered one of the two best basketball players in the world.

Durant's Thunder were considered a contender for the title heading into the season but they could miss the play-offs after struggling without their star, despite the play of MVP-candidate Russell Westbrook.

Durant has played only 27 games this season and will miss the next four to six months because of bone graft surgery on his right foot.

A statement from the Thunder read: “As we communicated last week, Kevin was going to use this time to engage in consultation and evaluation regarding the persistent soreness in his right foot at this stage of his rehabilitation. As part of this process, Kevin and Thunder personnel traveled to two additional specialists this past week; Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York City and Dr. James Nunley at Duke University. These in-person consults were designed to further supplement the previous evaluations of Dr. Bob Anderson. Several conference calls and discussions amongst the specialist team concluded that, while the majority of the soreness in Kevin’s foot was related to continued inflammation of the cuboid bone and would subside with rest, the evaluation process also determined that the Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal, which had shown significant healing previously, was now demonstrating signs of regression.

"With the focus of this process being aimed entirely on Kevin’s long term health and stability, it was the consensus of the specialists team, in addition to a collective decision by Kevin, his representation and the Thunder, that to address the setback of the fracture site, a bone graft procedure would be the most proactive and recommended approach. The bone graft is the standard procedure for the five to eight percent of Jones fracture surgeries that do not initially have success or experience setbacks sometime within the recovery period. While everyone is disappointed that Kevin falls into that group, we are encouraged that the bone graft procedure has historically demonstrated long-term health and stability.

"Dr. O’Malley will perform the bone graft surgery early next week in New York. He has extensive bone grafting experience amongst athletes and has been consulting on the case throughout. Kevin will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season and is expected to return to basketball activities in the next four to six months."