NBA superstar and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. He is among the four members of the team to have tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus), as revealed on Tuesday.
According to Charania, Durant cautioned the public but reassured his current health status, saying “Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We're going to get through this.”
Kevin Durant tested positive for coronavirus, Durant tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Durant says he is feeling fine: "Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We're going to get through this."
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 17, 2020
Kevin Durant joined the Nets last offseason, signing a deal that landed him in Brooklyn alongside All-Star buddy point guard Kyrie Irving. Durant, however, tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors and was sidelined for the entire 2019-20 season, pushing his on-court debut with the team until likely the following season.
Before Durant and the three other Nets tested positive for coronavirus, Utah Jazz stars center Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell also contracted the pandemic-level virus. Later, Detroit Pistons power forward Christian Wood tested positive, too.
Tuesday's reveal of Durant and altogether four Nets players makes the total number of NBA player cases seven.
The NBA suspended its operations effective March 12 when — just before tip-off with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jazz — officials stopped the game due to Gobert's apparent symptoms. Gobert's test later came back positive and the next day, third-year guard Mitchell joined that list.
Due to the growing number of cases like Durant and the Nets, it's becoming more evident that the NBA season is only going to be pushed back farther into the future, should the 2019-20 campaign even resume at all. Commissioner Adam Silver, with approval from the Board of Governors, suspended the league for the 30 days but that hiatus continues to extend, casting the entire rest of the regular season, possibly playoffs, in doubt.
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