Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving of Brooklyn Nets sidelined for Covid reasons
- Published
Durant has been leading the Nets over recent weeks
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and returning team-mate Kyrie Irving have both been sidelined for Covid-related reasons.
It means that nine Nets players have been ruled out of action over the past week.
On Friday, the Nets had said that they would allow All-Star guard Irving, who has refused to be vaccinated, to come back to the fold.
However, the 29-year-old was required to undergo daily testing on his return.
Under NBA health and safety protocols, players must be sidelined for at least 10 days or have two negative tests in a 24-hour period before they can return to basketball-related activity.
Even when he is cleared to come back, Irving will remain unable to play in home games because rules in New York require players to be vaccinated, and he will also have to miss games in Toronto.
Former NBA MVP Durant was already being rested for Brooklyn's game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday with a sore right ankle.
The 33-year-old is the league's leading scorer and hit a season-high 51 points last Sunday in a 116-104 win over the Detroit Pistons.
The league is already facing stricter coronavirus protocols after a surge of positive cases over the last couple of weeks.