Kevin Durant is reportedly among four Brooklyn Nets players who have tested positive for the new coronavirus and are in isolation.
The injured Durant, who has yet to play for the Nets since signing for the club last year, confirmed to The Athletic website he had tested positive for the virus.
“Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We’re going to get through this,” Durant was quoted as saying.
News that the two-time NBA Finals MVP was among those who had contracted the virus came soon after the Nets confirmed four players had tested positive for Covid-19.
“Four Brooklyn Nets players have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus,” the team said in a statement. “Of the four, one player is exhibiting symptoms while three are asymptomatic. All four players are presently isolated and under the care of team physicians.”
The Nets said they were notifying known contacts of the players including those from teams who played against the Nets shortly before the NBA shut down its season indefinitely on March 12.
The last team to play the Nets was the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers, who were stunned 104-102 by Brooklyn on March 10.
The Lakers said in a statement Tuesday they had been informed of the four Nets players testing positive and have been in touch with their own players and staff.
“Given the exposure risks from our game against the Nets on March 10th we are following the next steps of our Covid-19 procedures and protocols that are established in consultation with various health officials, the NBA and our UCLA Health doctors,” the Lakers said.
The Nets said all players and members of the team travel party had been asked to isolate themselves and monitor their health. The four cases more than double the known number of cases of Covid-19 among NBA players.
Utah Jazz defensive standout Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive – his illness triggering the NBA’s current closure.
Teammate Donovan Mitchell and Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons have also tested positive for the virus.
Woods was tested after reporting flu-like symptoms to the Pistons medical staff. Mitchell was tested after Gobert’s positive test, but had not experienced symptoms.
“I don’t have any symptoms,” Mitchell said in an interview broadcast by ABC television on Monday. “I could walk down the street (and) if it wasn’t public knowledge that I was sick, you wouldn’t know it. I think that’s the scariest part about this virus.”
