Kevin Durant already demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2022 before the franchise granted his wish in February 2023. The Phoenix Suns superstar now spoke about his reasons for his wish at the time.
“There was just no continuity,” Durant noted of his time in Brooklyn. “But if you want to win a championship, you have to build an identity from day one. But there were always setbacks that were out of the players’ control. That’s how it works sometimes in the NBA. We all learned from this experience , be they players or those responsible.”
Durant missed his first season in Brooklyn due to a torn Achilles tendon, during which time head coach Kenny Atkinson was fired and replaced with Steve Nash for the new season. This was followed by the trade for James Harden, which, however, forced a trade to Philadelphia after just one year. His replacement, Ben Simmons, played just 24 games alongside Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“Players get injured, are unavailable. It was always a next-man-up mentality. You get paid as a professional, so you have to play. But you can tell the character of a team when you keep changing your lineups and have to deal with resistance.”
These were all reasons why Durant ultimately decided to demand a trade in the summer of 2022, even if the Nets did not want to fulfill this wish for a long time. “I tried, but they just didn’t want to let me go. At some point I ran out of time, but I didn’t want to miss any games because of it. I just waited and prepared for the season and it worked out in the end.”
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2023-11-26 06:26:00
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