Steve Nash Gives Key Update on Kevin Durant’s Return Status

As the world continues to deal with COVID-19, many sports leagues and associations were faced with the challenge of how to handle the pandemic and still hold games. No league has been met with as many obstacles as the NBA has. While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver may have been able to isolate all his players and ensure safety in the bubble back in 2020, it’s a new season. This new season comes with the addition of eight teams, the task of traveling between states, the different coronavirus protocols for different cities, and a host of other factors. With little room for error, the NBA has held a no-tolerance stance when it comes to its health and safety guidelines. The most recent victim of the protocols was Brooklyn Nets forward, Kevin Durant.

Nash Expects Kevin Durant To Return on Friday

On Monday, Nets’ head coach Steve Nash informed reporters that KD has continued to test negative for COVID and likely will be back when the Nets face the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Nash explained how Durant’s continued absence will affect the team moving forward. “COVID protocols, out seven days. So, there’s our load management for Kevin right there,” Nash said to reporters over Zoom via Nets Wire. “It’s one of those situations where we’ve had so much stop and start and we’re such a new entity.”

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Hours before they were slated to play the Toronto Raptors last Friday, it was reported that the 2014 Most Valuable Player rode in a car, maskless with a team employee that tested positive for the virus. The NBA’s COVID-19 guidelines prohibit players and staff from commuting together without wearing protective face coverings. Because of this, Durant was originally prohibited from playing in the game. However, according to the league’s protocols, a player is not required to be quarantined until a close contact has a confirmed positive test. Before the game, the test for the employee had come back inconclusive. As a result, Durant was deemed eligible to play and entered the game midway through the first quarter but was pulled in the third quarter when the employee’s test came back positive.

Brooklyn Has Been Frustrated With COVID Protocols

“We’re trying to find a balance between trying to win games and keeping our emotional health and at the same time not wear them out,” Nash said to reporters. “That’s very difficult to do with the roster and everything that’s been thrown at us.”

After the game on Friday, Nets’ guard James Harden also voiced his frustration with the league. “I don’t understand the whole thing where he couldn’t play, then he came on the court, then they took him back,” Harden told reporters via SNY. “There’s just a lot going on. There’s too much going on. It’s kind of overwhelming. We’re in the midst of a tough game, and these games are going to add up, especially if we’re talking about playoff seeding … to catch a rhythm. It’s overwhelming. It’s frustrating.”

“I don’t understand what the problem is,” Harden continued.  “The game should’ve been postponed, I feel like. If we’re talking about contact tracing. He was around all of us. So, I don’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to play, then allowed to play, then taken back off the court. If that was the case, we should’ve postponed the game.”

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