The Brooklyn Nets landed a pair of All-Stars this summer, but it’s hard to imagine a path that would allow one of them to play this season. While Kyrie Irving should be good to go from day one, the ruptured achilles that Kevin Durant suffered as a member of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals is the kind of ultra-serious injury that requires the upmost care.
As such, no one is quite sure exactly when Durant will make his debut in his new threads. That includes Nets general manager Sean Marks, who appeared on WFAN on Tuesday and made it clear that they’ll take a cautious approach to Durant’s recovery.
“I have no idea,” Marks said when asked about a potential return date, per ESPN. “We’re certainly not going to rush him back. There’s going to be absolutely none of that. We have far too much invested in him, and we owe it to Kevin to get him back to 100 percent.”
Marks did, however, add an interesting detail, mentioning the team will remove itself from the decision-making and trust that no one knows Durant’s body better than himself.
“This is entirely going to be a Kevin Durant decision,” Marks said.
There is a conversation to be had about the amount of autonomy Durant should have in making this decision, if only because he’s a competitor and there’s a gigantic risk to rushing back from something this serious. Whenever Durant takes the floor again, it’ll be a joyous day, because one of the best basketball players on earth will return from a major injury and do it in a uniform he’s never worn before. It’s worth waiting until he’s 100 percent, and apparently, the Nets trust that Durant will know when he is at that point.
