Let me start by listing all of the ways NBA teams this season have stopped Kevin Durant: contact tracing.
Durant was scratched from the Nets’ starting lineup last night due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. He then entered as a reserve, dropped eight points, six rebounds, and five assists in 19 minutes, then got pulled again due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. Now how does that make any sense? Someone fill me in because I’m stumped.
What I do know is that coming off a career-threatening Achilles tear, Durant is scoring at will for the Nets this year. Currently averaging 29.5 points per game, he trails only Wizards guard Bradley Beal for the league lead in that category. Structurally-sound Achilles tendons? Who needs ‘em?
Not to mention that Durant has shined in matchups against some of the league’s premier defenders this year. KD dropped 30 points on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s head on January 18th in a win against the Bucks. Because, you know, he’s KD.
Seriously, what am I missing here? Is the NBA’s irrational handling of the coronavirus pandemic truly the only force on this Earth capable of stopping Kevin Durant this season?
Post-Achilles tear KD might even be a bigger problem for the league than pre-Achilles tear KD was. Durant is tallying his highest PPG average since 2013. He is shooting 52.9 percent from the field to go along with a scorching 44.9 percent from three. Kevin Durant, contact tracing or no contact tracing, is virtually unguardable right now.
So it makes perfect sense that the NBA is once again sending the coronavirus boogeyman to stop Durant from getting buckets. Heck, no one else in the league this year has proven that they can do it. Apparently, in order to keep it fair for the other 29 teams not named the Brooklyn Nets, the league needs to focus its COVID-19 protocols on KD and KD only.
#FreeKD
KD took to Twitter shortly after the game against the Raptors to convey his disapproval of the NBA’s decision to pull him for contact tracing purposes.
Kevin Durant, contact tracing has done you dirty this year. I, for one, will not sit by and stay silent while the league keeps KD in COVID jail for no good reason. Two words, six letters. Free KD!
