NBA Insider 'Unsure' if Kevin Durant Will Play Friday

The Phoenix Suns and their fans were highly anticipating the return of Kevin Durant on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst says that might not be the case.

The Phoenix Suns and their fans were hoping to see the return of Kevin Durant on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Durant has now missed over a month thanks to a MCL sprain, and many believed the league pushing the start time back from 7:00 to 8:00 pm MST and also adding the game to ESPN to be shown nationally was a sure sign that Durant would make his debut in a Suns jersey, yet ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst doesn't believe that will be the case. 

"Friday's game on ESPN against the Thunder - I'm not sure that's when we're gonna see [Kevin] Durant make his Suns debut," Windhorst said. 

"He hasn't played in six weeks and I know he said over the weekend in Salt Lake City at the All-Star festivities that his knee was feeling good, but there is a desire for Durant to get a 5-on-5 live contact workout tomorrow in Phoenix and then see how his knee reacts to that before proceeding to being activated. Neither Durant nor the Suns are ruling out Friday's game. 

"But I think within Durant's camp, within the team there's an expectation that Sunday's game in Milwaukee … Or next week they play in Charlotte as part of a long road trip, could be more likely than Friday against the Thunder."

Full video:

Kevin Durant could make his Suns debut as early as Sunday against Milwaukee, according to @WindhorstESPN ☀️ pic.twitter.com/uscuZ0PwqJ

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 22, 2023

It certainly sounds as if nothing is being ruled out, yet Durant may wait a few more days to make his debut. 

The Suns are currently the No. 5 seed in the West with a 32-28 record. Phoenix has just 22 games left in the regular season before the playoffs are set to begin.