Getty Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant reacts as he sits during a timeout against the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center on February 5, 2021.
You already know how Kevin Durant felt about the situation that unfolded Friday night at Barclays Center.
“Free me,” the Brooklyn Nets star tweeted after he was forced to leave the game against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to COVID-19 contract tracing. That happened only after Durant was initially held out of the game due to the league’s health and safety protocols, and then cleared to return. Durant played 19 minutes and scored eight points before he was pulled from the game again.
Durant has been ruled out for Saturday’s Nets game in Philadelphia due to health and safety protocols.
After the Friday’s game, Nets players aired frustration and confusion over the situation. James Harden called it “overwhelming.” Joe Harris said it was “bizarre.”
Elsewhere around the league, the reactions were similar.
Trae Young, CJ McCollum weigh in
Like Harden and Harris, CJ McCollum was baffled.
“Bruh played then had to leave the game mid game?” the Portland Trail Blazers star tweeted in reaction to Durant leaving the game.
Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young was similarly incredulous.
“How KD just out like that!?!” Young tweeted alongside a laughing emoji.
How KD just out like that ?!?🤣
Kendrick Perkins, who played in the NBA for 14 seasons and is now an ESPN analyst, raised a popular sentiment.
“And the NBA (is still) having All-Star Weekend?!” he tweeted alongside an unamused emoji.
The NBA and NBPA decided on Thursday that the NBA All-Star Game will take place as scheduled on March 7 in Atlanta — despite concerns over the spread of COVID-19 and the event serving as an unnecessary risk.
LeBron James and Harden are just some of the stars that have voiced their frustration with the game going ahead as scheduled in the midst of a pandemic.
“I’m sure KD and other NBA selected All stars are looking forward to the all star gm in ATL after tonite’s fiasco in Brooklyn,” Pro Football Hall of Famer and FS1 analyst Shannon Sharpe tweeted late Friday. In the tweet, he included a GIF of Magic Johnson shaking his head.
I’m sure KD and other NBA selected All stars are looking forward to the all star gm in ATL after tonite’s fiasco in Brooklyn.
Raptors were confused, too
On the other side of the court there was… still more confusion.
“I had no idea what was going on, to be honest,” Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam said of Durant’s removal from the game. “I don’t know why he was in — at first, I thought [Durant] was starting, and then he wasn’t, and then he came back. To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t really ask. I didn’t know.
“He’s such a talented player that he affects the game and he affects what we do when we guard them. … I think we just adjusted as the game was going.”
“I have no idea what’s going on to be honest.”
Pascal Siakam talks about Kevin Durant being pulled from the game due to NBA health and safety protocols. #RapsOnSN
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