The Brooklyn Nets are probably the most dysfunctional team in the NBA right now. Yes, we have other squads like the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, or even the Charlotte Hornets, but the Nets have been involved in controversy almost every season since they signed both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, becoming a laughingstock around the league.
The furthest they’ve gone was the second round of the postseason in 2021, where they were eliminated by the eventual champions, Milwaukee Bucks, in a terrific series. Last season, they barely made it to the playoffs, and the Boston Celtics quickly beat them in the first round.
This situation led to Kevin Durant requesting a trade from the Nets, which became a big shock around the NBA. Even though he never left the team, KD made a lot of noise during the offseason. Things haven’t worked in his favor, and he decided to run it back with Brooklyn.
Kevin Durant Gets Real On His Trade Request From Brooklyn Nets
A couple of months after that moment, Durant opened up about that situation and what led him to request a trade from the team he joined in 2019. Talking with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Durant said that this was strictly about basketball, and he never asked the team to fire anybody.
“It wasn’t difficult at all to request a trade because it was about ball,” Durant told B/R. “I went to them and was like, ‘Yo, I don’t like how we are preparing. I don’t like shootarounds. I like practices. I need more. I want to work on more s–t. Hold me accountable. Get on my ass in film if that’s going to help you get on everybody else’s head. I want to do more closeouts. I want to work on more shell drills at practice.’
“This was the type of s–t I was coming at them with. It wasn’t like, ‘Yo, y’all need to make sure everybody around me can make my life easier.’ Hell nah, I want to make everybody else’s life easier. Ask Steve Nash, you can go call him right now. I would say, ‘Yo, I need more closeout drills. We need to practice more.’ That’s what I was on.
“I wasn’t feeling that, and nobody was on that same vibe with me. Jacque Vaughn is. I had some complaints in the summer, and my complaints were not about just me; it was about how we are moving as a unit. I want us to be respected out here in the basketball world. I don’t want players to look at us and say, ‘Oh man, these [expletive] are full of s–t. That’s not the type of team I want to be on.’ So when we’re all playing like s–t, you know the one person they’re going to look at. That’s why I requested a trade.”
The Nets decided to part ways with Steve Nash this season after a poor start. The Canadian head coach was expected to lead this squad to the promised land, but things never clicked for him. Now, the Nets have a new head coach in Jacque Vaughn, who has made some changes to the team. However, the Nets keep struggling to get wins, especially without Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons.
This team is in a very complex situation right now, and nobody knows when or if this issue will ever get fixed. Durant is getting tired of the situation, and he could request a trade again if this season ends in another disaster.
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