Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant will have to quarantine for seven days after having close contact with a team employee who tested positive for COVID-19.
Durant was left out of the Nets’ starting line-up after a close contact returned an inconclusive Covid-19 test.
He was then allowed to come off the bench in the first quarter – before that same contact then tested positive.
“Free me,” 10-time All Star Durant later wrote on Twitter.. It was the 32-year-old’s first appearance as a reserve in his 867 NBA games.
In a statement, the NBA said its health and safety protocols “do not require a player to be quarantined until a close contact has a confirmed positive test”.
The team employee initially tested inconclusive, which led to the mixup in Friday night’s game where Durant was held back, then participated and finally pulled. The employee then tested positive, which has led to the contact tracing for Durant, who has continued to test negative.
All Nets players and other team staff have continued to test negative, including postgame last night.
