In a bizarre back-and-forth, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant’s evening culminated in his being unexpectedly pulled out of Friday’s loss of 123-117 to the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to health and safety protocols .
Durant was initially unavailable to start Friday’s game because someone he contacted earlier in the day had an unclear test result for COVID-19, the league explained in a statement. He later got off the bench and checked into the game at 4:13 of the first quarter.
“Durant was initially kept out of the game while that result was being assessed,” the statement read. “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.”
During the match, however, a positive result was returned for that person and Durant was removed from the match in the third quarter “out of an abundance of caution,” the league said.
Durant has tested negative for COVID-19 three times in the past 24 hours, including two PCR tests on Friday, the competition said. Contact tracing is underway to determine if Durant was, in fact, close contact of the person who tested positive.
The rest of the Nets have been approved to travel to Philadelphia for Saturday’s game against the 76ers, but Durant won’t make the trip, ESPN sources told Adrian Wojnarowski.
While sitting on a couch during a break, Durant was informed by a Nets employee that he was being removed from the match. A visibly bewildered Durant shook his head and as he walked through the tunnel to the locker room, he threw a bottle of water in frustration.
Durant tweeted “Free me” shortly after he was removed, he criticized the NBA another tweet after the match.
I @nba, your fans are not stupid !!!! You can’t fool them with your Wack ass PR tactics. # FREE7 https://t.co/78N1iKFAoc
– Kevin Durant (@ KDTrey5) February 6, 2021
Durant finished with just 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes, plus 6 rebounds and 5 assists. It was only the second time in the past 10 seasons that Durant failed to achieve double digits, breaking a run of 166 consecutive games. Durant scored zero points on February 28, 2017 against the Wizards and left the game 90 seconds after an injury to his knee.
Friday’s game also marked Durant’s first time off the bench in his 13-year NBA career.
Moments before being pulled out of the game, Durant was whistled for his fifth foul, but the Nets won a challenge to undo the call on the floor. It is the first time in Durant’s career that he has finished a game with more fouls than field goals.
Durant, who had COVID-19 last March, is the second top scorer in the NBA, averaging 30.8 points per game. Previously, he missed three games in early January due to health and safety protocols.