Kevin Durant rules himself out for rest of NBA season

Kevin Durant has ruled himself out for the rest of the NBA season and therefore won't be making his debut for the Brooklyn Nets this year. Durant has not played since he ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for Golden State Warriors in last year's NBA Finals.

"My season is over. I don't plan on playing at all," Durant said in an interview on Friday with The Undefeated.

"We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.

"It's just best for me to wait. I don't think I'm ready to play that type of intensity right now in the next month.

"I'm doing well. Working out every day. I'm moving. I'm feeling like a normal player again."

The NBA suspended its season on March 11 as the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, leaving professional sport in North America at a standstill.

The NBA Board of Governors have approved a competitive format to restart the 2019-20 season with 22 teams returning to play and a tentative start date of July 31. The boards approval is the first formal step among many required to resume the season which has been suspended since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the competitive format that the NBA Board of Governors have approved, the 22 returning teams would be the 16 teams (eight per conference) in current playoff positions and the six teams that are currently six games or fewer behind the eighth seed in their respective conferences.