Kevin Durant was pulled from the floor in the third quarter last night, as part of the league’s contact tracing protocols.
Durant's reaction to being told he was going to have to leave the game pic.twitter.com/dzeXe8UX3U
— CJ Fogler Ol' Steroid Ass #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) February 6, 2021
Durant was understandably annoyed by how it was handled; being allowed to play half the game before being sent to the locker room set him off on a Twitter rant against the league’s protocols and messaging surrounding contact tracing.
Yo @nba, your fans aren’t dumb!!!! You can’t fool em with your Wack ass PR tactics.. #FREE7 https://t.co/78N1iKFAoc
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) February 6, 2021
Free me
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) February 6, 2021
As our Matt Clapp wrote last night:
So why the heck was Durant allowed to enter the game (or even the bench) to begin with? And what changed between the first and third quarter to force his exit?
The NBA released a statement saying that Durant tested negative three times in the last 24 hours, but somebody he interacted with earlier in the day had an inconclusive test shortly before the game. The league says that Durant was initially held out while that was being reviewed, but added that they don’t require a player to be quarantined until a close contact has a confirmed positive test. Well, that person indeed returned a positive test during the game, leading to Durant being pulled and put back into contact tracing.
Tonight, Nets coach Steve Nash announced Durant would be away from the team until next Friday, meaning he’ll miss three games:
Steve Nash said he found out that Kevin Durant can rejoin the Nets on Friday. That puts him in a seven-day quarantine and means he can join the Nets on their west coast trip…in time for his return to Golden State. He'll miss tonight, Tuesday in Detroit and Wednesday vs. Indy.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 6, 2021
Further word came as to what happened, and while how it was handled last night was certainly not ideal, it’s hard to argue that Durant shouldn’t be in quarantine right now:
As a result, sources told ESPN, it was decided that Durant needed to quarantine despite continuing to test negative. https://t.co/hOf9RBXCaz
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) February 6, 2021
Durant was in a car with the team employee on three separate occasions Friday. The Nets‘ MVP candidate continues to test negative for COVID-19, sources say, as have all other Nets players and team staff. https://t.co/FbDSiypcTu
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2021
Durant has had Covid-19 in the past already, and continues to test negative. That’s good! But science at this point isn’t very clear on whether immune people can carry or pass on the virus, or even if reinfection is possible, hence the seven-day quarantine. That Durant could have avoided this by wearing a mask while in the car with someone else is a pretty great example of why, you know, masks should be on, whether you think it’s overkill or not.