Remember when Kevin Durant turned the NBA off-season upside down and requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets? More than a month later, he still hasn’t been traded and Kyrie Irving is still on the team. Either teams don’t want Durant, or they don’t want to offer what it’ll cost to get him.
Either way, Durant must feel that the market for him isn’t as big as he thought because he just gave Nets owner Joe Tsai an ultimatum, trade him or fire Head Coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks, according to the Athletic.
The 12-time All-Star has doubled down on his trade request and let Tsai know that he has zero faith in the direction that the team is going.
Last summer, it seemed like Durant was optimistic about the direction of the team. So optimistic that he signed a four-year, $198 million contract extension. But a lot can change in a year, and now the NBA superstar is ready to leave before entering the first year of that extension.
I find this whole situation funny because this entire dilemma Durant finds himself in is of his own making. He chose the Nets. He chose to team up with Kyrie Irving despite people advising him against that. He picked Steve Nash to be his coach. He asked the team to trade for James Harden. He was cool with the Nets trading Harden and getting Ben Simmons.
Every basketball decision he’s made with the Nets has blown up in his face.
But there’s blame to go around, the Nets have to take responsibility for allowing their franchise to be put in this position. While everyone would’ve signed Durant, you did not have to sign Irving. You did not have to get approval from Durant about every basketball decision you make. But you did, and as a result, you’re in this position.
Now Tsai has to decide between two-time MVP Steve Nash or one-time MVP Kevin Durant.
Seems like an obvious choice to me.