NEW YORK – Kevin Durant will miss the Nets’ next three games before he can rejoin the team on Friday, coach Steve Nash said before Saturday’s game against the 76ers.
Durant rode with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19 before Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN. The NBA Health and Safety Protocols state that every player exposed to COVID-19 must be quarantined for six days.
The Nets will be without Durant against the Sixers on Saturday and against the Pistons and Pacers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
If Durant continues to test negative for COVID-19, he will be eligible to return against his former team, the Golden State Warriors, on February 13th.
Durant was without a mask three times in a car with the team employee, sources told ESPN. The star of the Nets drove with the employee to the practice facility for testing, at home and after the game. The NBA’s COVID-19 guidelines prohibit players and staff from commuting together without wearing protective face masks.
The employee produced an unconvincing test result and the Nets notified the league office on Friday afternoon of the results. The Nets were instructed to remove Durant from the warm-up game a few minutes before the break. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks called the league office and notified the court.
Durant returned halfway through the first quarter and helped the Nets back with a once-double-digit deficit.
“Durant was initially kept out of the game while the result was reviewed,” a league statement said Friday night. “According to the league’s health and safety protocols, we do not have to quarantine a player before a close contact has a positive test.”
The Nets staff member produced a positive test during the game, and Durant was pulled out during a third quarter count after playing 19 minutes.
“I do not understand the whole thing where he could not play, then he comes on the court, then they take him back,” Nets guard James Harden said after the game. “There’s just a lot going on. There’s too much going on. It’s overwhelming. We’m in the middle of a tough game, and these games are going to pick up, especially when we talk about the playoffs. to catch.It’s overwhelming.It’s frustrating.
“[Durant] feel the same way. Especially with the fact that he already has it and we are tested every day. He was negative. So I do not understand what the problem is. The match had to be postponed, I feel like. If we talk about contact tracing. He was around us all. So I do not understand why he is not allowed to play, then he is allowed to play and then be taken back from the court. If that was the case, we should have postponed the match. ‘
All other Nets players and staff members remain negative about coronavirus, sources told ESPN. The Raptors did not return any positive tests, sources said.
This is the second time Durant has had to miss a long time this season as part of the league’s contact tracking. In early January, Durant missed six days and three games after being exposed to another person who tested positive for COVID-19.
Durant, who had COVID-19 in March, continued to register coronavirus antibodies and tested negative for the virus seven times over the past three days, sources said.
The NBA’s COVID-19 protocols do not distinguish 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 be protected to get the disease back.” Scientists are still not sure to what extent immunity provides antibodies against re-infection. Durant scored 29.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.6 minutes of play for the Nets this season.