Fresh off a 33-point win over his former team, Suns star Kevin Durant spoke about what it was like to be back in the building he has so many memories in. Despite his complicated history with the Nets, Durant was mostly positive in his review and referred to the people in charge as “classy” following a thoughtful tribute video.
“It’s classy people here. It shows a great organization when you can appreciate everybody who stepped foot and put their blood, sweat and tears into your organization,” said Durant. “I respect that.”
The Suns ended up with the win tonight, but it still leaves some lingering questions about Durant and his feelings toward the franchise. Despite signing there willingly back in 2019, Durant didn’t stay for long before forcing his way out. To this day, there isn’t a proper explanation for what happened on that team, and that whole tenure is something that will follow Durant for the rest of his career.
A Messy Divorce
The cracks began to show for Durant and the Nets during the 2019-2020 season. When the COVID pandemic hit and forced a number of changes to the league, Kyrie Irving refused to play along and he was disqualified from home games for months. Eventually, when Irving was allowed to play, he was walking on eggshells constantly due to a strained relationship with team owner Joe Tsai and Nets GM Sean Marks.
By the end, even though they were dominant on the court, Durant and Irving just didn’t jive with the front office there and they didn’t gel too great as teammates either considering their lack of playoff success. Without so much as a Conference Finals appearance to show for their efforts, it’s fair to call Durant’s tenure with the Nets a complete failure, and his legacy there will forever be defined by the fact that he demanded more trades during his time with them than he won playoff series.
Better Off In Phoenix
No matter your opinion of Durant or his former team, he’s thriving with the Suns and isn’t looking back. This season, through 40 games, Durant is averaging 28.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game on 53.1% shooting. Following Wednesday’s win over the Nets, Phoenix is up to 28-20 on the season and in a good position to climb up the Western standings. With Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and a supporting cast of veteran role-players, Durant is facing his best chance yet at breaking the narrative and finally winning a ring of his own.
Best of all, he’s in a place where can leave the drama at home and focus completely on basketball. Thanks to new owner Mat Ishbia, the Suns have completely bought into a championship run and they should be relevant for years with their current roster. Hopefully, it’s enough for Durant to finally win another title but with the way he’s been paying for them, nobody can say he hasn’t tried to get them as far as possible on the West. Last year, he took the Suns two games against the defending champs… this time, they’ll need to do better if they want to chalk this season up as a success.
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