Some people believed the NBA hiatus would give Kevin Durant a window to make a return this season, something unthinkable before the league suspended the 2019/20 season back in March. The board of governors voted on Thursday to restart the season on July 31 with 22 teams competing to make the playoffs and the Finals.
The season will finish in October, as the league sees Oct. 12 as the last days of the Finals at Walt Disney World. This gave the Brooklyn Nets some hope about watching KD playing this season, but the player himself shut down all those rumors. Nets GM Sean Marks even hinted that KD could return this campaign back in May, but that is not a real possibility at this time.
“My season is over,” Durant told The Undefeated’s Marc Spears. “I don’t plan on playing at all. We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.”
He added that waiting is the best option he has right now. He doesn’t want to rush anything. According to reports, the Nets would be looking to add a third star to their roster so when that happens and both KD and Kyrie Irving are healthy, this team would be a huge threat for the rest of the NBA.
“It’s just best for me to wait,” KD said. “I don’t think I’m ready to play that type of intensity right now in the next month. It gives me more time to get ready for next season and the rest of my career.”
The league is reportedly aiming Dec. 1 as the start of the 2020/21 season, but that would mean players will have less than two months between seasons, when the offseason lasts four months, normally.
Right now the Nets are 7th in the East, with 0.5 games advantage over the Orlando Magic and a six-game lead over the No. 9 Washington Wizards. This season they won’t have much to do in the postseason, but the next one, KD and co. will be one of the most dangerous teams in the association.
