NEW YORK – Kevin Durant will miss the next three Nets games before being eligible to join the team on Friday, said coach Steve Nash ahead of Saturday’s game against the 76ers.
Durant drove with a team official who tested positive for COVID-19 before Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN. NBA health and safety protocols say that any player who has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 should be quarantined for six days.
The Nets will be without Durant on Saturday against the Sixers and on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Pistons and Pacers.
If Durant continues to test negative for COVID-19, he could return against his former team, the Golden State Warriors, on February 13.
Durant was unmasked in a car on Friday with the team official three different times, sources told ESPN. The Nets star drove the employee to the practice site for the test, home after the test, and for the game. The NBA’s COVID-19 guidelines prohibit players and staff from traveling together without wearing protective face covers.
The employee returned an inconclusive test result and the Nets informed the league office about these results on Friday afternoon. Minutes before the information, the Nets were instructed to take Durant out of the warm-up before the game. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks had been on the phone with the league office and delivered the message to the court.
Durant returned in the middle of the first quarter and helped the Nets recover from a double-digit deficit.
“Durant was initially kept out of the game while the result was analyzed,” said a league statement released Friday night. “In accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols, we do not require a player to be quarantined until a close contact has a confirmed positive test.”
The Nets team member returned a positive test during the game and Durant was withdrawn during a third quarter timeout after playing 19 minutes.
“I don’t understand the whole thing that he couldn’t play, so he went on the court and they took him back,” said Nets guard James Harden after the game. “There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot going on. It’s kind of oppressive. We’re in the middle of a tough game, and those games are going to add up, especially if we’re talking about sowing in the playoffs. .To pick up a pace. It’s overwhelming. It’s frustrating. .
“[Durant] feels the same way. Especially with him already having it and we take the test every day. He was negative. So I don’t understand what the problem is. The game should have been postponed, I feel. If we’re talking about contact tracking. He was close to all of us. So I don’t understand why he was not allowed to play, then he was allowed to play and was taken off the court. If that were the case, we should have postponed the game. “
All other Nets players and team members continue to test negative for coronavirus, sources told ESPN. The Raptors did not return any positive tests, the sources said.
This is the second time Durant has lost a long time this season as part of the league’s contact tracking. In early January, Durant lost six days and three games after being exposed to another individual who tested positive for COVID-19.
Durant, who had COVID-19 in March, continued to record antibodies to the coronavirus and tested negative for the virus seven times in the past three days, the sources said.
NBA COVID-19 protocols do not differentiate between players who have antibodies and those who do not.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antibodies are “proteins that help fight infections and can provide protection against spreading the disease again”. Scientists are still unsure of the degree of immunity that antibodies provide against reinfection. Durant has an average of 29.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.6 minutes of playing time for the Nets this season.