Nets Get Official Date On When Kevin Durant Can Return

The Brooklyn Nets have officially ruled their star forward Kevin Durant out for Friday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. On Friday, the 2014 Most Valuable Player was pulled out of a matchup with the Toronto Raptors in the second half of the game. Durant was required to exit the Barclays Center floor as the league cited that him being in the game and around other players violated the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Durant Can Rejoin Nets Friday

Durant has had quite a battle with COVID as he tested positive for the virus in March and has already missed four games this year because he had to quarantine because of contact tracing. He will have to self-quarantine again as Nets Head Coach Steve Nash announced that KD will not be able to rejoin the Nets until Friday as per the NBA’s health and safety protocols according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews. Durant was not happy about having to exit the court mid-game and expressed his grievances via his Twitter account.

According to Malika Andrews of ESPN Durant came into close contact with a Brooklyn Nets employee when they rode in the car together before the tip of Friday’s game against Toronto. “Yesterday, Durant drove with a team employee three separate times to the team practice facility for testing, home from testing and to the arena for the game, sources tell ESPN. Durant and the employee did not appear to be wearing masks,” Andrews tweeted. “As a result, sources told ESPN, it was decided that Durant needed to quarantine despite continuing to test negative.” When it was discovered that the employee tested positive, Durant was ruled ineligible for the rest of the game and as a result, had to leave the court.

While all the Brooklyn Nets players and staffers have continued to test negative for COVID-19, many of the Nets players are still confused about the melee that occurred during last night’s loss. Specifically, why the game was allowed to continue once it was discovered that Durant was in close contact with a staffer that tested positive. Nets star shooting guard James Harden was still trying to make sense of it all once Friday’s game had concluded.

Durant’s Teammates Are Still Confused About What Happened

“If that was the case, the game should’ve been postponed,” Harden told reporters after the loss via SNY. “If we’re talking about contact tracing, he was around all of us, so I don’t understand why he was allowed to play then was able to play and then taken back off.”

Nets forward Jeff Green was equally as confused as Harden. “If somebody tests negative, and then they test negative again, and then again, I don’t see the sense of sitting that person because of what they see somewhere else,” Green said to the media following the loss via the New York Post. “If you’re negative, you should be able to play.”

If Kevin Durant can register seven consecutive days of negative COVID tests, he will be able to rejoin his squad on February 12. The Nets play three games in that period against the Sixers, Pistons, and Pacers. If everything goes according to plan Durant will be back in time to face his former squad the Golden State Warriors on February 13.

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