Speculation that Kevin Durant and/or Kyrie Irving would return to play has given some Nets fans hope that their favorite team will have an edge when —or if— the NBA comes back.
Forget about it, says Rich Kleiman, KD’s agent, manager and business partner. He tamped down expectations for the former MVP Monday morning talking to ESPN’s Golic & Wingo. He called the idea of playing in June or July “not very realistic.”
“Honestly, not very realistic from my standpoint, and not even spoken about,” Kleiman said.
That would seem to put the kabosh on the idea, at least for Durant. But sports books are taking bets on the Nets chances for a title based on speculation that he could return.
Regular-season basketball in June would align with the expected 12-month recovery for Durant, ESPN noted, but Kleiman remains conservative regarding KD’s rehab.
”It feels like (Durant playing in the 2019-20 season) clearly was not something that was in the cards prior to all this,” Kleiman said. “And now, I think just like the rest of the world, it’s hard to take anything more than day by day.
”I think that Kevin is going to figure out the space that he needs to be in to continue to rehab during this time. But even that is hard to answer at this point, with the new kind of rules that were put in place last night.”
On Wednesday morning, Adrian Wojnarowski added to the weight of arguments against KD coming back. In a podcast update on the corona virus, he said...
Obviously, people have talked about Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. I’ve been told that that is not an expectation of him coming back, although I heard he’s looked pretty good over there that the plan was not to do that. Because remember, you’d come back, you’d have a pretty short turnaround, no matter what you do, from the end of this season to next season, and they’re going to be careful with him now. Could that change? I guess it could change but right now, the next plan is to not bring Kevin Durant back.
Meanwhile, Spencer Dinwiddie joked that the league’s ban on practices will hurt Durant
The worst thing that could’ve happened to you is this break. It won’t be Theo you working out against when we get back https://t.co/tD7N8mZfyz pic.twitter.com/05nalIBkRS
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) March 16, 2020
No word on whether KD is going to continue his rehab in Brooklyn.
- Rich Kleiman: Kevin Durant playing in summer ‘not very realistic’ - ESPN
- NBA coronavirus pause has gamblers thinking about Kevin Durant’s return - Brian Lewis - New York Post