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NBA superstar Kevin Durant and three of his Brooklyn Nets teammates have tested positive for coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, the team and the 31-year-old power forward announced on Tuesday.
“Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” Durant, 31, told reporter Shams Charania of The Athletic after the news broke. “We’re going to get through this.”
The Nets have not identified the three other players who tested positive. Along with Durant, the team is home to several star players, such as Spencer Dinwiddie and former NBA champion Kyrie Irving.
In their statement, the team said of the players who were diagnosed, three were asymptomatic while the fourth is currently exhibiting symptoms.
“All four players are presently isolated and under the care of team physicians,” the team said in a statement posted by multiple reporters. “The organization is currently notifying anyone who has had known contact with the players, including recent opponents, and is working closely with state and local health authorities on reporting.”
“The health of our players and staff is of the highest priority to the organization and the team is doing everything within its power to ensure that those affected receive the best care possible,” their statement continued.
The franchise last played LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on March 10. A day later, the NBA abruptly placed the 2019-2020 season on hiatus when Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert became the first player to test positive for the respiratory virus.
Donovan Mitchell, Gobert’s teammate, was diagnosed with the illness a short time later and displayed no symptoms. Before this latest news, the only other player to test positive for the virus outside of the Jazz was Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons.
According to ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets tested the entire team when they returned to Brooklyn from San Francisco, after their game against the Golden State Warriors was canceled.
“[The] results came back today. Nets paid out of pocket to a private company to conduct tests,” according to Wojnarowski. “One player awoke with some aches today; rest have experienced no symptoms.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 187,100 people have tested positive for the coronavirus around the globe, according to the New York Times. The U.S. has seen at least 5,303 cases since the outbreak began, and 96 people have died in the country so far.
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