Durant agrees to 4-year contact extension with Brooklyn Nets

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant is staying with the Brooklyn Nets for the long term.

Durant agreed to a four-year, $198 million contract extension Friday, business partner Rich Kleiman announced on Boardroom, their sports business media network.

Durant just finished his first season playing for the Nets after sitting out the 2019-20 season recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon. He averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists, showing he had shaken off the injury to regain the form that made him the 2014 NBA MVP and a four-time lead scoring champion.

The extension begins with the 2022-23 season. It came hours before Durant was trying to lead the U.S. to a fourth straight Olympic gold medal. He became the American men’s career scoring leader during the tournament.