Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant claims that his decision to ask the Brooklyn Nets for a trade earlier this offseason was driven by concerns about team culture and stability.
Prior to Kyrie Irving’s considerable game-missing due to his Covid vaccination status and James Harden’s trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the injured Ben Simmons, Durant signed a four-year, $198 million agreement with the Nets in August 2021. The unfortunate conclusion of Brooklyn’s season came after they were defeated by the Boston Celtics in their first-round playoff series.
The 33-year-old formally asked for a move on June 30, but he later withdrew it after deciding to stay put on August 24.
A lot of things were being overlooked because we’re injured or players aren’t there, Durant said. My method was based on the idea that “everyone should be held accountable for their behaviours as a player every day.”
We should have worked harder to go past that and focus on the men here. We suffered 10 straight losses when I had to leave due to injury. Some of these games should not be going against us.
“You can see what happened to our season: guys coming into and going out of the lineup, injuries, and generally a tremendous lot of volatility that left me somewhat unsure about the subsequent four years of my career,” the player said. As I get older, I want to be in a place that is safe and try to establish a Championship culture.
We continue from there after I expressed my concerns to Joe. “I had some reservations about that.”
This week, the Nets’ point guard admitted that learning of his teammate’s trade requests had been “awkward” and that Durant’s request had come only days after Irving had chosen to exercise his player option to return to the team for the upcoming season.
The two had joined up in Brooklyn, and then with Harden, as part of an NBA-wide super-team movement in anticipation of their first trip back to the NBA Finals since their unsuccessful outings in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.
Durant was persuaded by management that he would still be able to pursue a title in his late 30s after their conversation.
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