Kyrie, Durant enter health and safety protocols

Brooklyn Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both entered the NBA's health and safety protocols Saturday, the team announced.

Brooklyn has now placed 10 players in protocols, as Durant and Irving join DeAndre' Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Johnson, Paul Millsap, James Harden, and Day'Ron Sharpe.

The Nets announced Friday that they had invited Irving back to be a part-time player for practices and road games because of the multiple absentees. Irving has remained unvaccinated and cannot play in New York City.

Irving entering protocols was not a planned step in his return to play, according to Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News, who adds the 29-year-old guard either tested positive for COVID-19 or had an inconclusive result. He now reportedly requires five consecutive days of negative test results in order to rejoin the team.

Durant had already been ruled out of Saturday's encounter against the Orlando Magic with right ankle soreness.

Vaccinated players who are placed in protocols must wait at least 10 days before they can be cleared to return. That would potentially put Durant's status in doubt for Brooklyn's Christmas Day matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. However, players can exit protocols before the full 10-day period if they return consecutive negative COVID-19 tests taken at least 24 hours apart.