One of the interesting subplots of the NBA’s unprecedented 2019-2020 season interruption is that many teams and players facing injury issues will now have a second chance to finish out the season, months after it was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the season resumes with eight regular season games to go until the playoffs, many squads will also be healthier than they have been since the start of the season at the perfect time to make a deep playoff push.
The Brooklyn Nets, however, will not be welcoming back their two superstar players in Orlando. Kevin Durant is now nearly a full year removed from his surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, and Nets GM Sean Marks said last month that Durant is looking like himself on the court – but the two-time Finals MVP ruled himself out for the rest of the season on Friday. Durant told The Undefeated that his plan was to sit out the entire season back when the injury occurred, and he’s sticking to that plan.
Via ESPN:
“I don’t think I’m ready to play that type of intensity right now in the next month. It gives me more time to get ready for next season and the rest of my career.
My season is over. I don’t plan on playing at all. We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.”
Nets guard Kyrie Irving reportedly will not return from shoulder surgery this season, either. The Nets are 30-34 on the season and are currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Orlando.
Kyrie Irving suggested on the NBPA conference call today that it's possible he could join the Nets in Orlando this summer — as an inactive player supporting his teammates, sources said. Irving had season-ending shoulder surgery on March 3. https://t.co/MKrfaGQhwy
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 6, 2020
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