Kevin Durant is midway through his comeback season after missing all of 2019-20. He is playing for a new team in the Brooklyn Nets but will miss a small portion of the upcoming schedule. Durant will not be active for four games due to COVID-19 exposure.
According to TMZ Sports, Durant was exposed to someone that tested positive for the coronavirus. He went into mandatory quarantine and must remain away from the team for seven days. He will also have to produce negative results to return to the Nets. This timeline means that Durant will miss four games and that the earliest he can return is Jan. 12 against the Denver Nuggets. The Nets also confirmed his absence for Tuesday’s game against the Utah Jazz while citing “health and safety protocols” as the reason for him being inactive.
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Durant was one of four NBA players to test positive for the coronavirus in March, joining three other members of the Nets. At the time, the NBA star had no symptoms, but he still delivered a warning to other players and everyday citizens. “Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” he told The Athletic. “We’re going to get through this.”
Durant ultimately recovered from the coronavirus and tested negative in April. However, he did not join the Nets for the season restart later in 2020 due to an injury. He had suffered a torn Achilles tendon in June 2019 and had spent time working his way back to full health. However, Durant told The Undefeated in June 2020 that he wasn’t physically ready for on-court action.
“It’s just best for me to wait,” Durant said at the time. “I don’t think I’m ready to play that type of intensity right now in the next month. It gives me more time to get ready for next season and the rest of my career. My season is over. I don’t plan on playing at all. We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.”
Once the 2020-21 season officially began, Durant suited up as a member of the Nets and made an immediate impact. The New York-based team is currently 3-4, but Durant is finding success on the court. He is averaging 28.2 points per game and has shot 45.5% from the three-point line.
