NEW YORK – Kevin Durant will miss the Nets’ next three games before qualifying to rejoin the team on Friday, coach Steve Nash said ahead of Saturday’s game against the 76ers.
Durant drove with a team member who tested positive for COVID-19 prior to Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN. The NBA’s health and safety protocols say that any player exposed to someone with 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 for a return against his former team, the Golden State Warriors, on Feb. 13.
Durant was maskless in a car with the team worker on Friday three different times, sources told ESPN. The star of the Nets drove with the employee to the practice facility for testing, home from testing, and to the game. The NBA’s COVID-19 guidelines prohibit players and staff from commuting together without wearing protective face covers.
The employee sent back an inconclusive test result, and the Nets notified the league office of those results Friday afternoon. Minutes before the tip, the Nets were instructed to remove Durant from its warm-up period. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks had spoken to the league office and informed the court.
Durant bounced back in the middle of the first quarter, helping the Nets bounce back from an ever double-digit deficit.
“Durant was initially kept out of the game while that result was being revised,” a league statement released Friday night said. “Under the league’s health and safety protocols, we do not require a player to be quarantined until close contact has a confirmed positive test.”
The Nets staff member returned a positive test during the game and Durant was pulled during a third quarter break after 19 minutes of play.
“I don’t understand the whole thing where he couldn’t play, then he came on the field and then they took him back,” said Nets guard James Harden after the game. It’s just a lot going on. Too much going on. It’s kind of overwhelming. We’re in the middle of a tough game, and these games will add up, especially when we talk about playoffs. It’s frustrating.
“[Durant] feels the same. Especially now that he already has it and we are tested every day. He has been negative. So I don’t understand what the problem is. The game should have been postponed, I think. If we talk about contact tracking. He was with all of us. So I don’t understand why he was not allowed to play, then was allowed to play and then was taken off the field again. If that were the case, we should have postponed the game. “
All other Nets players and staff continue to test negative for coronavirus, sources told ESPN. The Raptors have not returned positive tests, sources said.
This is the second time Durant has missed an extended period of time this season as part of tracking contacts in the league. 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, has continued to register antibodies against the coronavirus and tested negative for the virus seven times in 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 infection and may protect against recurrence.” Scientists are still not sure what level of immunity antibodies provide against reinfection. Durant averaged 29.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.6 minutes of playing time for the Nets this season.