Well, that was anticlimactic. This NBA off-season was supposed to be full of madness, chaos, and moving parts. While NBA fans got some of that, we didn’t get the shifting piece that we wanted. I’m speaking of the Kevin Durant trade request.
In June, Durant, a two-time NBA Champion, two-time Finals MVP, a regular-season MVP, 12-time All-Star and one of the best players in the history of the NBA officially requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA fans, including myself, thought we were in for a chaotic NBA off-season. Earlier this month, it was looking like the trade was going to come to fruition when Durant gave the Nets owner an ultimatum, “trade me or fire Head Coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks.”
But in a lame turn of events, Durant has mended his relationship with Nets brass.
In a statement put out by the team, Marks said, “Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”
So that blockbuster Kevin Durant trade is not happening and we’re stuck with watching a Brooklyn Nets team with Kyrie Irving, who’s still anti-vax, Ben Simmons, who has not played in an NBA game in over 16 months and Durant, who we are not even sure if he likes playing on the team.
Fellow NBA player, Patrick Beverly voiced his dismay with the Durant news for a different reason. In a tweet, the Utah Jazz player wrote, “Yal can sit and don’t say nothing but that ain’t cool. It’s dudes with families out here who haven’t got a job because of this KD shit. And to be on and off ain’t cool. Blessing Gang.”
In response, KD tweeted, “#BLAMEKD.”
Beverly came right back at Durant writing, “Damn gang who said I was talking about u. I’m speaking of how it was done. Both sides need keep that private. But noted.”
Despite Durant deciding to stay with the Nets, we’re still in for an entertaining NBA season with a plethora of contending teams looking to take the crown from the defending champ Golden State Warriors.