Kevin Durant's Manager: 'Unrealistic' for Injured Nets Star to Play This Summer

Rich Kleiman, the manager for Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant, said it's "unrealistic" for KD to play this summer if the 2019-20 NBA season eventually resumes after being suspended indefinitely by the coronavirus pandemic.

Kleiman said on the Crossover NBA Show with Chris Mannix podcast (via Brian Lewis of the New York Post) the idea hasn't gained any traction within Durant's camp.

"I promise you, Kevin and I have not talked about that. And I know it sounds crazy, but my assumption has been that that wasn't very realistic," Kleiman said. "It's just not...I know when the time will be right to have that conversation, but it just hasn't been that time, and it just doesn't feel like it's needed."

He added: "That's what I mean about unrealistic. It's just, you know, I haven't even thought to ask him, because it just seems so unrealistic."

Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals while with the Golden State Warriors. It marked his first appearance since Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets a month earlier when he suffered a calf strain.

The 31-year-old University of Texas product joined the Nets in free agency as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Warriors.

He's yet to make an appearance for Brooklyn while completing his Achilles recovery. In October, he was asked on ESPN's First Take (via NBA.com) whether the chance of returning this season had been ruled out.

"Yes," Durant said. "No, I don't plan on [playing this season]."

Questions were raised about whether that stance could change if the season resumes later than the Nets' campaign was expected to last. Kleiman said Durant is making progress, but the outlook hasn't been altered, per Lewis.

"I mean, he's doing good," Kleiman said. "He's exactly where he's supposed to be. It's been almost a year since the injury. But, you know, he's been able to maintain his rehabilitation during this period—not to the same extent as the first few weeks, but he's continuing to get stronger and keep building and playing."

The two-time NBA Finals MVP's manager also provided a separate health update on KD, who tested positive for COVID-19.

"He was fortunate that he was asymptomatic throughout and is now clear and free of it," Kleiman said. "But obviously quarantined like the rest of us."

The Nets currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 30-34 record. A returning Durant with at least a handful of regular-season games to get back up to speed would make them a dangerous low seed in the playoffs.

It doesn't sound like that's in the cards, though. KD's return alongside Kyrie Irving for the rebuilt Nets probably won't come until the 2020-21 campaign.