In a bizarre bizarre go, Kevin Durant’s night before the Brooklyn Nets culminated in the fact that he was unexpectedly pulled from Friday’s 123-117 loss to the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter due to protocols. health and safety.
Durant was not initially available to start the game on Friday because someone he interacted with earlier had an inconclusive test result for COVID-19, the league explained in a statement. He then came off the bench and entered the game at 4:13 of the first quarter.
“Durant was initially eliminated from the game while the result was being revised,” the statement said. “According to the league’s health and safety protocols, it is not necessary for a player to be quarantined until close contact has a confirmed positive test.”
However, during the game, a positive result was returned for that person, and Durant was eliminated from the game in the third quarter “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the league.
Durant gave negative results for COVID-19 three times in the past 24 hours, including two PCR tests on Friday, the league said. Contact tracking is ongoing to determine if Durant was in fact a close contact of the person who gave positive results.
The rest of the Nets were allowed to travel to Philadelphia for Saturday’s game against the 76ers, but Durant will not make the trip, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
While sitting on a bench during a break, Durant was informed by a Nets member that he was out of the game. A visibly amazed Durant shook his head and as he passed through the tunnel to the locker room he threw a bottle of frustrated water.
Durant wrote on Twitter “Free me” shortly after he was eliminated, then criticized the NBA in another tweet after the game.
I @nba, your fans are not stupid !!!! You can’t fool them with your PR Wack ass tactics. # FREE7 https://t.co/78N1iKFAoc
– Kevin Durant (@ KDTrey5) February 6, 2021
Durant finished with just 8 points at 3-of-8 in 19 minutes, plus 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Scoring only the second time in the last 10 seasons, Durant failed to reach double digits, breaking a series of 166 consecutive games. Durant scored zero points on February 28, 2017, against the Wizards, leaving the game 90 seconds after a knee injury.
Friday’s game also marked the first time Durant stepped off the bench in his 13-year NBA career.
Moments before he was taken out of the game, Durant was whistled for his fifth foul, but the Nets won a challenge to flip the call off the floor. It was the first time in Durant’s career that he finished a game with more fouls than field goals.
Durant, who had COVID-19 in March last year, is the second highest scorer in the NBA, averaging 30.8 points per game. He previously missed three games in early January due to health and safety protocols.