The Brooklyn Nets have been hammered by the NBA’s health and safety protocols in the last few days. As of Friday evening, the list of players who entered the protocols looked like much of the team’s rotation once the playoffs roll around, as LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, James Harden, James Johnson, and Paul Millsap all were sidelined. Partly in response to this, Brooklyn decided to reverse its stance on Kyrie Irving being a part-time player.
On Saturday, the team announced that its best player will join that laundry list of guys. Kevin Durant, who tested positive for COVID in March of 2020 and had a run-in with the protocols last season, will be the latest player to miss time for a reason related to the virus. This time around, it is unclear if he had a positive test or was a close contact with someone who caught it.
Nets star Kevin Durant has entered the league’s Covid protocols. That’s eight Nets now.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 18, 2021
The news of Durant’s protocol stint comes right before the team is slated to play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, with the Orlando Magic and the Denver Nuggets, respectively, coming to town. The team also has a home game on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards before embarking on a three-game west coast road trip. Should Durant fail to register two consecutive negative tests in a 24-hour period, he’d end up missing at least 10 days, which would include all of those games. Most notably, Durant would be able to play on Christmas Day, when the Nets travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers.
It is unclear if the league will consider postponing and rescheduling any of the team’s upcoming games.