Durant returning this season remains 'unrealistic,' says manager

One of Kevin Durant's closest confidants remains doubtful over the superstar's chances of suiting up this year, even if the season can be saved.

After Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks said earlier this week that the team won't rush Durant back if the campaign extends into the summer, Rich Kleiman, Durant's business partner and manager, poured more cold water on the idea Thursday.

"From my standpoint, no, I think it's unrealistic," Kleiman told Frank Isola and Wes Wilcox on SiriusXM NBA Radio. "That's just my view on it. Again, we haven't gone deep into conversation about it because of how unrealistic it all seems to me that I figure that if something changed he would tell me.

"It's also hard to even discuss in a real serious manner without any information on the season, and just to still feel such uncertainty day-to-day as we all do, outside of just the NBA, that the whole thing just feels too unrealistic from my standpoint."

This is the second time during the hiatus that Kleiman has expressed pessimism about Durant's chances of suiting up this season. After the NBA ordered teams to close their facilities in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Kleiman suggested the lack of available training centers could delay the forward's rehab.

Teams are permitted to reopen their gyms beginning Friday if their local governments have loosened stay-at-home orders. The Nets, however, currently have not revealed any plans to allow players access to their facility again.

Durant hasn't played since he tore his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals in June. He signed a reported $164-million contract as a free agent with the Nets but had only progressed to individual on-court practice in early February. Typically, Achilles tears can require up to 12 months of recovery.