Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Kevin Durant is now the eighth Brooklyn Nets player to enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The Brooklyn Nets are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to COVID, as superstar forward Kevin Durant becomes the eighth player on the team to enter the NBA‘s health and safety protocols.
Durant is vaccinated, as he would not have been able to play home games at Barclays Center had it been the other way around. Given the Nets’ current situation with COVID, they have gotten so desperate that they are in the process of bringing back an unvaccinated Kyrie Irving into the fold as a part-time player who will only play road games for this this season. What a mess for Brooklyn.
The Nets are slated to host the Orlando Magic for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff at Barclays Center in Saturday night.
Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant becomes eighth player to enter COVID protocols
The weird part in all this is Brooklyn looks to be the best team in the Eastern Conference this season. The Nets are 21-8 through their first 29 games, holding a three-game lead over the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference standings. Even more impressive, the Nets are 6.5 games up on the second-place Philadelphia 76ers in the Atlantic Division standings.
Ultimately, Brooklyn will find ways to adapt with this recent COVID surge throughout the league. However, this is a team every bit capable of winning its first NBA Finals in franchise history. Offensively, it is a juggernaut, but the Nets do leave a lot to be desired on the defensive end of the floor. The last thing this team wants is for COVID to derail its promising season before it takes off.
The Nets have five games on the schedule between now and Christmas Day.