Per Associated Press News: Without knowing whether the 2019/20 NBA season will resume, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks is no longer ruling out Kevin Durant for the season.
With Durant recovering from his Achilles tendon surgery, during the 2019 NBA Finals, Marks repeatedly had said he didn’t expect Durant to play this season, but he acknowledged Wednesday that everything is unknown now that the season is suspended because of the new coronavirus breakdown.
Even Kyrie Irving, who had shoulder surgery on March 3, might be available if play stretched into the summer.
But, Marks said he can not really put a timeline or give a clear answer if the two superstars will be able to play this season.
“I don’t think that’s fair, one to those athletes, nor the performance team, to put a timeline on this. I think everybody is dealing with bigger items, far more pressing items,” Marks said.
“I do know that those two players are continuing their rehab, but again, when you’re practicing social distancing and you’re in self-isolation, I haven’t physically seen them in three or four weeks. So it’s difficult for me to gauge, let alone the performance team, as to where they are.”
A potential extra couple of months would definitely be beneficial for the players. But, having in mind that all team’s facilities are closed, this might take some extra time.
“I think something we have to think about is our facilities are closed and just by getting time off, yes, does that make your body heal and so forth?” Marks said. “But there were several of our players that need the facilities, need game reps, need to be playing, and you could take the other side of this and say that this hiatus has set their rehabilitation back and it’s slowed them. We’re talking to them and FaceTiming them and so forth, but it’s quite different to having those guys on the court,” Marks said. “And they know their bodies better than anyone else, so at the right time and when they’re a hundred present and they’re up for it, I’m sure they’ll be making those decisions.”
No matter what the situation is right now, the team has to be ready for everything, as Marks says.
“I think they’re turning over every rock they possibly can to play and looking at every different outcome,” Marks said. “From a team perspective, all I can say is we have to be preparing for everything.”
Marks also said the four Nets players who tested positive for COVID-19 have completed their two weeks of quarantine and are now symptom-free. Durant had told The Athletic he was one of the players.
Durant had been working out and his participation in the Olympics hadn’t been ruled out before they were postponed a year.
