Kevin Durant has simply been the biggest talking point this off-season. While it was his teammate Kyrie Irving who was making headlines with rumors of a potential trade to the Lakers, KD absolutely took over the media once it was announced that the 33-year-old had requested a trade from the franchise.
Durant’s three years have been incredibly eventful. While he missed his first season, in the second year, KD assembled one of the biggest superteams on paper alongside Kyrie Irving and James Harden. But the moves simply didn’t work either because of injury or players simply failing to show up.
Amidst all the drama, Durant was perhaps the constant performer, always stepping up to the plate and putting up incredible performances against some of the best teams in the league. Despite the efforts that KD put in during his time with the Nets, critics haven’t been the biggest fan of the forward’s decision to demand a trade from the franchise.
In a recent appearance at The Starting Lineup, journalist Frank Isola had some harsh words for the 2-time Finals MVP.
Kevin Durant's preferred destination is Phoenix.@TheFrankIsola believes the 2x Finals MVP wants to go to a ready-made team. pic.twitter.com/zSLnEG3ee7
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 1, 2022
“He doesn’t believe that the teammates that he has are good enough to win. Deep down he doesn’t want to be the leader, he wants a ready-made team… This time he wants to go to a 64-win team where Chris Paul is a leader and he got Devin Booker.”
“He couldn’t be a leader in Brooklyn because he knows a real leader like LeBron [James] would have to challenge Kyrie Irving on a lot of stuff… Kevin Durant would rather challenge anonymous people on Twitter.”
This is certainly a pretty harsh statement to make about the forward. While KD might not be the loudest voice in the room, he often leads a team with his performance and more often has tried to bring the best out of his teammates.
Even with a player like Kyrie Irving, Durant always showed patience and never really seemed overwhelmed by the 30-year-old’s antics. It will be interesting to see what the next chapter of Kevin Durant brings to the league.
