Kevin Durant avoids Siakam’s defense.Frank Franklin II / AP
The doubts in the application of the protocols against the covid-19 in the NBA led to a bizarre situation, which affected Kevin Durant, one of the stars of the League. The Brooklyn Nets power forward had to leave the court during the third quarter of the game against the Toronto Raptors. The decision was made under League guidelines, when Kevin Durant had already played 19 minutes of the match. The event caused the perplexity of all those who were on the field. Kevin Durant had started for the first time in his career on the bench precisely because authorization for him to compete had been delayed.
The Nets stars could not be in the starting five, their team announced, due to NBA health and safety protocols. KD had come into contact with someone who was exposed to the coronavirus. But, after some testing and deliberation, Durant was finally able to play. It was the first time he started on the bench, after Durant’s 886 regular-season games in 14 NBA seasons.
Durant entered the court in the middle of the first quarter. The Nets were informed that they had to leave the court. A member of the team communicated this to the player during a time-out. Durant left the court visibly angry and threw a bottle of water on the ground with a gesture of frustration. After 19 minutes he added 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. The game concluded with a 117-123 victory for Toronto, 33 points and 11 rebounds for Siakam and 30 points for Lowry for the Raptors. Harden had 17 points and 12 assists; and Kyrie Irving, 15 points.
Kevin Durant tested positive for COVID-19 in March. And at the beginning of January he was already absent in three games because of the covid protocols. He is the second highest scorer in the League, with an average of 30.8 points, only surpassed by Bradley Beal, with 34.8 points.
