Frustrated. Overwhelming. Quite bizarre.
These are the words used by the Nets to describe what happened on Friday night, when Kevin Durant was withdrawn from the starting line a few moments before disconnection, then was allowed to play only to be taken off the field to follow the contact. COVID-19.
“It simply came to our notice then [since] we follow the protocols, we are tested every day, so I don’t understand everything he couldn’t play in and then he came on a field and then they took him back. It’s just a lot going on. Too much is happening. It’s kind of overwhelming, “said James Harden, who addressed the question of whether the game should have been completely called.
“If so, the game should have been postponed. If we talk about following contacts, he was around us, so I don’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to play and then he was able to play and then he was withdrawn from the field. If so, we should postpone the game. That’s what I feel. “
Durant gave negative results three times in the last 24 hours, including twice on Friday. However, he has still been taken off the field and now does not expect to make the trip to Philadelphia for Saturday’s huge game against the 76ers. He left the Nets short and confused.
“Yes, that’s what I mean, it’s clear: confusing, frustrating. I mean, it’s weird, isn’t it? So that he doesn’t start and then he can come in, play and then be taken out again. It really doesn’t make sense, “said Joe Harris, who was amazed at what it meant to the rest of the team in terms of following contacts.
“Your assumption is as good as mine. I’d say, ‘Hey, if he’s following the contacts, what the hell? He’s with us all on the field.’
Harden had the same contact tracking questions, wondering: If safety is so worrying, why gamble?
“I said what’s going on and they just said tracking contacts,” Harden said. “I’m thinking about myself, well, if it’s tracking contacts, then we’re all in the locker room together: That means there’s no game if he can’t play. So that was my thought process, and once I started the game, I kind of forgot about it. Then Kevin comes into play and I’m like, there must have been confusion or something confusing. “
Which the Nets – and others like the Lakers star, LeBron James and De’Aaron Fox of the Kings – have confused that the NBA is scheduling the All-Star game for March 7th. It will take place in Atlanta and COVID-19 positivity rate for Fulton County is over 11 percent.
“Guys who are actually All-Stars, I don’t feel bad,” Harris said. “Yes, there are just a lot of things that don’t really make that much sense. But I’m not the one making the decisions. I just work here. ”
It could have an impact on Harden, who falls into James and Fox’s camp, because he’s not looking forward to it.
“I haven’t said anything publicly, but I feel like some of the players who seem to be going through so much as we try to calm a virus and organize an event,” Harden said.
“I know the reasoning, but I feel that – especially with a condensed program that has been forced on players – he is already exhausted from playing many games in a week. I feel it has been a week for us to relax, to be with our families to take a step away from basketball. Like I said, we’re just into that. ”