The NBA is on a 30-day hiatus, a break that could possibly be longer. The coronavirus pandemic has paralyzed the whole world with most advised to stay at home and place themselves in self-quarantine. This is to prevent the spread of the virus and seeing more people infected by COVID-19.
Most NBA stars have been left idle at home. Some are bored while others have taken this time to get some much-needed rest. Cagers who could benefit from the NBA pause are players recuperating from an injury. One of them is Kevin Durant who was originally deemed out for the entire 2019-20 NBA season. However, the former NBA MVP mentioned he was willing to suit up for the United States if the 2020 Tokyo Olympics goes on as planned, NBC Sports reported.
That event is likely to be pushed back with most sports leagues possibly moving their regular schedule. As for the NBA, there is still no word on whether the season will push through. League commissioner Adam Silver said that there is a chance that the season may be scrapped, probably the most extreme situation if the NBA calendar is severely altered. But if the season does resume, there is that looming possibility that players like KD could be ready to suit up.
If so, that would alter the fortunes of the Brooklyn Nets for the postseason wars. The Nets are in the seventh spot of the NBA Eastern Conference before the league was placed on hold. If they stay the course, they are likely to face the defending champion Toronto Raptors. That severely changes the complexion of the Nets chances although it may be wise not to get hopes up.
According to Durant's manager, Rich Kleiman, seeing the 31-year-old return and play for the Nets in the playoffs is unrealistic. In fact, no discussions of that happening have been made, ESPN reported.
“It feels like (Durant playing in the 2019-20 season) clearly was not something that was in the cards prior to all this,” Kleiman said.
Instead, a more realistic expectation is to see Durant play in the next NBA season - whenever that may be. Recovering from his ACL injury is the goal for the second overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. But if that were the case, worth thinking about is how he would be able to play for USA Basketball if the Tokyo Olympics were to push through as originally scheduled.
