Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash isn’t looking for anyone to feel sorry for the team following the injury to superstar forward Kevin Durant who sprained the MCL in his left knee during Saturday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets do not have an exact timeline for when Durant will make his return to the court, but the team expects a rehab to last anywhere from four to six weeks.
“If they get a bunch of games together, great,” Nash said, according to ESPN’s Nick Friedell. ” “If they don’t, they don’t. And we’ll be playing the cards we’re dealt so it’s a little bit out of our hands. We just have to do the best we can. We can’t cry about it. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We got to keep building, see what we can learn, how we can grow during this period of Kevin being out and Joe [Harris] being out and how we can continue to move this thing forward so when they do come back, we’re in a better place — and he can rejoin us in a place where we can feel better about where we are in that part of the season.”
“Obviously we lose a scorer of the highest caliber,” Nash said. “But we also lose size and defense. … He’s such a well-rounded player, does so many things at a high level, plus he gives us small-team size on the perimeter — there’s so many ways that his absence will be felt. Having said that, it’s a great opportunity for guys, and it’s an opportunity for our team to grow. We can’t rely on him in ways that we could, and we have to find ways and solutions to be competitive without him.”
Nash said Durant is disappointed, and he will be reevaluated in “a few weeks”.
“He’s obviously disappointed,” Nash said. “The guy loves to play. It’s tough any time you’re injured, but this is just the reality, and try to stay positive and look forward to the opportunity to play and that it’s not worse.”
“It’s helpful for sure that we have a lot of road games,” Nash said. “Helpful the All-Star break’s in this stretch, too. I think it’s nice to have a positive spin on things.”
