Durant won’t play if NBA resumes season

BROOKLYN Nets star Kevin Durant will not play if the National Basketball Association restarts the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday.

The Nets are determined to let the four-time scoring champion rest until next season rather than risk reinjuring his right Achilles tendon.

“Kevin Durant’s not coming back to the Nets this year,” Wojnarowski said during “The Woj Pod” podcast. “That’s not happening. … They’re not playing him.”

Earlier this month, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said he wouldn’t rule out Durant returning to the court if the league resumes the 2019–20 campaign. Play has been suspended since March 11 due to the coronavirus crisis.

“He knows his body better than anybody,” Marks told Newshub of New Zealand. “Our performance team and training staff have done a tremendous job getting him to this point, but I just don’t know how coming out of this pandemic will affect anybody, let alone Kevin.”

Durant, 31, was injured during Game Five of the 2019 NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors. He signed a four-year, $164-million deal with the Nets as a free agent in July.

The 10-time All-Star forward was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2013–14 as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was a two-time NBA Finals MVP with the Warriors. — Reuters