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In an interview with Chris Haynes, he explained the blockbuster request that happened in the offseason
The vibes are catastrophic for the Brooklyn Nets these days.
Kyrie Irving is suspended for an undisclosed amount of time for anti-Semitic postings made on his social media accounts, Ben Simmons is still trying to find a role coming off of a back injury, and the Nets just gave up 153 points in a loss to the Sacramento Kings.
After the blowout loss to Sacramento, Durant talked with Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes about his trade request and the team overall, and boy is it something.
I had some complaints in the summer, and my complaints were not about just me; it was about how we are moving as a unit. I want us to be respected out here in the basketball world. I don’t want players to look at us and say, ‘Oh man, these [expletive] are full of s—t. That’s not the type of team I want to be on.’ So when we’re all playing like s—t, you know the one person they’re going to look at. That’s why I requested a trade.”
And if you think it couldn’t get worse from there…
“Look at our starting lineup. Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, [Nic] Claxton and me. It’s not disrespect, but what are you expecting from that group? Durant asked of B/R. “You expect us to win because I’m out there. So if you’re watching from that lens, you’re expecting us to play well because No. 7 is out there.
I mean, wow.
In the interview, Durant said that he didn’t like how the Nets were preparing for games, and wanted to be challenged more and wanted more practice. Durant didn’t feel that then-head coach Steve Nash was challenging the team at all.
In the offseason, Durant offered an ultimatum to GM Sean Marks: get rid of Steve Nash, or trade Durant. Of course, neither of those things initially happened, and Durant and Nash worked together over the first seven games of the season until Nash was fired. Durant pulled the ultimatum later in the offseason, but the sentiment remained.
Of course, there’s the whole Kyrie Irving portion of this. Irving refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which meant he would miss some of the home games that the Nets played in 2021. Many looked at Durant to try and get Irving to take the vaccine, and when that didn’t happen, Durant was labeled as someone who isn’t a leader. Durant responded in the interview.
Even as the vaccine mandate in New York City ended, Irving has created a whole new controversy for himself this year. That cat has been out the bag for a while. Where the biggest issue lies is with how Durant describes his other teammates, the guys that he’s actively playing with now. If Durant is actually a leader, speaking down on his teammates to the media probably wouldn’t be the way to go.
Nevertheless, this is Durant’s side of the story of why he requested a trade over the summer. We’ll see how long he really stays in Brooklyn.
