Put any buzz about Kevin Durant coming back to rest (for now).
With some talk that the new Brooklyn Nets star might return later this season from a devastating Achilles tear in the NBA Finals that came after coming back from a calf strain, the team’s general manager Sean Marks put that all to rest on Tuesday. And that’s the best thing he could have done.
“With Kevin, what we’re going to say is the expectations are that he’ll be out for the year,” Marks said. “We’re not going to plan on him playing.”
That’s it. Shut it down right there. No need to open the door even a tiny bit and have everyone talk all year about how Durant MIGHT come back and when and where and how.
And if he does come back in 2019-20, which I might not want to do if I was Durant after what happened months ago? Great! It’ll be a nice surprise for everyone. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols did a terrific segment on this very subject before Marks’ press conference, speaking about the pressure on Durant and his teammates mounted before he returned and ruptured his Achilles.
“What’s the downside in ruling himself out for himself out for the season? What’s the downside in the Nets saying, nope he’s not playing, we’ll see him September of 2020? Does anyone think that if Brooklyn does rule him out for the year now but then KD did actually somehow manage to come back early, that the organization will be met with a bunch of, ‘… but you said he’d was out!’ Please. It would be fine.”
Exactly. It’s fine and a smart move by the Nets to say this out loud now.
