Kevin Durant, who has not debuted with the Brooklyn Nets, told Marc Spears on the show ‘The Undefeated’ that he does not plan to play this season (2019-20), as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski on his Twitter account.
“My season is over,” Kevin Durant tells @MarcJSpearsESPN. “I don’t plan on playing at all.” https://t.co/uSVIDQVik8
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 6, 2020
After the nearly three-month hiatus from the NBA following the health emergency caused by COVID-19, the All-Star and MVP were expected to make their long-awaited debut with the Brooklyn Quintet once the 2019-20 season was over. reopens in Orlando in late July; however it will not be so.
“My season is over,” Durant told Marc Spears. “I don’t plan on playing at all,” he said.
Durant has not played since the Achilles tendon was severed on June 11 during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals while playing for the Golden State Warriors against the Toronto Raptors. The two-time MVP of the NBA Finals will be one year in injury when the Nets return to action on July 31 in Orlando, Florida in a 2019-20 season delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Durant feels much better physically while training in Los Angeles, he said he is not physically ready to return this season.
“It is better for me to wait,” said Durant. “I don’t think I’m ready to play at that kind of intensity right now in the next month. It gives me more time to prepare for the next season and the rest of my career …
“My season is over. We decided last summer when it happened that I was going to wait until the next season. I had no plans to play all this season.”
Durant said he is not sure if he will join the Nets in Orlando. The 10-time All-Star commented that he has felt very comfortable rehabilitating himself without pressure in Los Angeles. Now 31, Durant appears to be much more patient in not rushing his return as he did with past injuries with the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. The 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player signed a four-year, $ 164 million contract with the Nets last summer after leaving the Warriors as a free agent.
“I had to reboot and focus totally on myself and what I wanted from this,” Durant said. “For the first time I felt like I was in my own space rehabbing. I didn’t feel like I had to be part of the team and travel with the team and do everything like I was playing. I could really take my time.” and focus on myself every day.
“I didn’t feel rushed at all. That was a great space to be. I was pressuring myself from past injuries wanting to hurry up and go back. I saw my teammates having fun and wanted to be there. This whenever I felt I was more patient throughout the whole process mentally and I was not rushing mentally. I wasn’t too excited when my team played well or had a good day (rehab). I’m taking things second by second and trying to see what’s best for long term “.
Durant, who also fully recovered from COVID-19 after contracting the virus in March, is confident that the NBA will have a smart and healthy environment for NBA players to resume the season.
“It surprised me. And then I was curious. I wanted to know what it meant. What was the virus about? I started getting more and more information about it. It reassured me … I was just more curious to know what the virus meant.” I was dealing with how I could fight it myself, “Durant said.
Likewise, Kyrie Irving suggested on Friday’s NBPA conference call that he may be able to join the Nets in Orlando as an idle player supporting his teammates, sources said.
Irving underwent shoulder surgery that ended his participation in this season on March 3.
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