Nets star Kevin Durant, who is currently sidelined with a sprained MCL in his right knee, is expected to be out through the All-Star break, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Brooklyn has five more games before the break, so Durant will miss at least those contests. The team resumes post-break on Feb. 24 against Chicago.
Durant, who was named an All-Star for the 13th time last month, will also miss the exhibition event, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. An injury replacement will likely be named soon to take his place.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters, including Brian Lewis of The New York Post, that Durant received a “really good report” from doctors. The veteran forward has been doing some on court-work, but hasn’t been taking contact yet.
Vaughn also suggested before Wojnarowski broke the news that Durant was looking unlikely to suit up before the break.
“I won’t step over that line … but the days are adding up,” Vaughn said (Twitter link via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic).
A couple of reports over the past couple weeks indicated that Durant was hopeful to return shortly before the mid-season event, but it makes sense for the Nets to be cautious with their best player.
In addition to being 34 years old, Durant has had extended injury absences in each of the past three seasons after tearing his Achilles tendon in 2019.
In other injury news for the Nets, forward Yuta Watanabe will be out for Tuesday’s game against Phoenix due to back tightness and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
