Kevin Durant, who on Friday was forced to come off the bench for the first time in his NBA career, was pulled from the Brooklyn Nets contest in the third quarter because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols, officials said.
The strange turn of events started with Durant being ruled out of the starting lineup moments before the beginning of the Nets 123-117 loss to the Toronto Raptors, because someone he came into contact with earlier on Friday had an inconclusive test for COVID-19.
Durant then checked into the game halfway through the first quarter and remained until being removed with nine minutes left in the third quarter of a tight contest by a Nets official.
Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY
A visibly frustrated Durant threw his water bottle as he headed down the tunnel to the Brooklyn dressing room.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Durant was removed from the game and contact tracing is underway to determine if he was in fact a close contact of the positive individual,” a league spokesman said in a statement.
While the game was still going on Durant took to his cellphone in the bowels of the Barclays Center and wrote “Free me” on Twitter.
The league said that Durant had tested negative three times in the past 24 hours, including twice on Friday.
However, because Durant had been in contact with someone who originally had an inconclusive test result, he was held out of the start of the game.
Durant then entered the contest and played 19 minutes before the league learned that the other person had tested positive.
The drama took place while officials were reviewing a play that could have seen Durant slapped with his fifth foul in just 19 minutes of playing time, but Durant won the video review and the foul call was overturned.
Nets coach Steve Nash said that losing Durant was just another twist in a bizarre back-and-forth season.
“It is tough to lose Durant twice in one night,” the Canadian said. “But we got to be adaptable. It is the kind of season it is going to be.”
Durant finished with eight points and was not expected to travel with the team for their game in Philadelphia yesterday.
Nets forward James Harden said that the game should not have been played.
“It is frustrating,” Harden said. “I don’t understand. He couldn’t play and then he came back on the court. The game should have been postponed. He was around all of us.”
Also on Friday, it was:
‧ Jazz 138, Hornets 121
‧ Pelicans 114, Pacers 113
‧ Bucks 123, Cavaliers 105
‧ Suns 109, Pistons 92
‧ Heat 122, Wizards 95
‧ Magic 123, Bulls 119
‧ Timberwolves 106, Thunder 103
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