The Phoenix Suns are having a very rough time right now. The franchise is 2-10 over the last 12 games, crashing out of the West Playoff picture. They’re 27-32 right now, 3.5 games behind the No. 10 seed in the West. The stress of the situation is visible on Kevin Durant, who was not happy during the team’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
There was a play where Durant nearly lost his temper at Mason Plumlee for setting a bad screen during the game, visibly getting angry at the center.
Not happy KD. pic.twitter.com/lYrPC8hTxL
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) February 28, 2025
His post-game comments when asked about Mike Budenholzer encouraging the team to stay optimistic didn’t fill any Suns fans with confidence about how the star forward views his head coach.
“I don’t wanna say the wrong thing and people take it out of context. So I’m gonna just agree that we just gotta be better.”
https://twitter.com/GeraldBourguet/status/1895339782064218319
Durant put up 28 points (12-23 FG) in the 116-124 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The forward has been performing as well as expected on the court, but nothing he’s doing right now indicates he’ll go above and beyond to deliver victories. Given the Suns’ struggles this season, that’s not surprising.
He’s averaging 26.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists this season.
Durant has already shut down comments about a ‘toxic’ locker room, but it’s hard to overlook his potential anger at the franchise after they tried trading him over the winter. He turned down a potential move to the Golden State Warriors, but is widely expected to be leaving in the summer.
With these bad feelings alongside Bradley Beal’s potential dissatisfaction at being openly shopped, the Suns locker room is an ugly place to be. With the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA, anyone who bet on the Suns being a Playoff team should look away now.
Kevin Durant Thinks The Suns Locker Room Can Still Fight
Despite their 2-10 stretch putting them in a rough position to re-enter the Playoff battle, the team has no choice but to fight toward that goal. Even with the locker room issues, these players are motivated to make a Playoff push.
Durant made it clear that the negativity in the Suns locker room shows how much they care about winning and how these feelings can catapult them to a winning stretch.
“Most definitely. I feel like everybody wants to win. I feel like everybody’s pissed off. When you see bad body language, that means people care. And guys care in this locker room, and I can tell they’re pissed.”
https://twitter.com/GeraldBourguet/status/1895341537636257831
The locker room’s enthusiasm to compete in the Playoffs this season doesn’t look the same on the court as Durant makes it seem to be. The rotations are all over the place, the players are upset and have become seemingly incapable of executing even basic winning strategies.
Failing to make the Playoffs will definitely spell the end of this era of Suns basketball. Durant will likely be shipped out, with the asset-less franchise needing to stay competitive over the next decade due to their lack of future draft picks. It’s a tough situation but it’s one entirely of their own creation.
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