Brooklyn Nets Star Kevin Durant Won’t Play This Season, Asserts Adrian Wojnarowski
Should the NBA resume the 2019-20 season following its suspension of play in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign would conclude substantially later than it would during a normal year. The extended delay has prompted some to wonder whether Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant — who was expected to miss the entire season due to injury — might actually suit up for his new team this season as a result of the new timeline. However, one of the league’s most prominent insiders has asserted that it’s not going to happen.
On an episode of The Woj Pod, noted NBA scribe Adrian Wojnarowski claimed that Durant isn’t a part of the Nets’ plans on the court this season and won’t return to action even if the league is able to resume play ahead of next season.
“Kevin Durant is not coming back to the Nets this year. That’s not happening… They’re not playing him,” Wojnarowski stated forcefully.
Hope of an earlier-than-expected return by Durant was given new life last week when Nets general manager Sean Marks failed to close the door on his star player making his long-awaited debut with the team in the event that the NBA resumed the ’19-20 campaign. As reported by The Inquisitr on May 3, Marks told the New Zealand-based publication Newshub that the Nets organization wasn’t pushing a timeline with regard to his injury rehab.
He also noted that Durant was beginning to look like his old self behind the scenes before the NBA postponed operations.
The 31-year-old All-Star spent the previous three seasons with the Golden State Warriors, with whom he won two NBA championships and picked up two NBA Finals MVP trophies. Durant may have captured additional hardware last season, but was ultimately forced to watch from the sidelines as the Toronto Raptors captured the 2019 championship after he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Nevertheless, Durant was able to sign with the Nets as a free agent last summer on a massive, four-year, $164 million deal. Superstar point guard Kyrie Irving also made the move to Brooklyn, and while there was an understanding that the two likely wouldn’t play together this season, the franchise is nonetheless banking on the duo leading them to title contention eventually.
Over 12 years in the NBA with the Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and Seattle SuperSonics, Durant has averaged 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists per contest. In 2014, he was voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
