The Brooklyn Nets are a team that notably disappointed in the playoffs this year, not winning a single game in the first round despite the presence of stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. They were however missing Ben Simmons, so perhaps things could have been different were he to have played.
NBA insider Ric Bucher has recently revealed a story about the Brooklyn Nets locker room, where the Nets players asked Ben Simmons if he would be willing to play in Game 4 following the Nets’ Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics. Ben Simmons supposedly did not respond and subsequently left the group chat. That led to frustration from Kevin Durant, who rhetorically asked “this is who I’m playing with?”
https://twitter.com/nonbiasednbafan/status/1556122534243962880
They’re having a team chat before Game 4, thinking he’s going to play against the Celtics. From what I’m told, Ben just left the chat. They asked him “Are you going to play?”. Ben left the chat. Like he didn’t even answer the question, just left the chat.
KD’s like “This is what I signed up for? This is who I’m playing with?”
It is easy to see why Kevin Durant would be frustrated about not getting a response at all. Ben Simmons did have good reason to not play considering the fact that he had back surgery later on. However, it seems as though Simmons could have at least notified his teammates that he wouldn’t be able to play rather than staying silent and leaving the group chat.
Kevin Durant has since requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, and we’ll see where he ends up. It also seems as though he is no longer frustrated with Ben Simmons, as the two were spotted hanging out in Los Angeles with Lakers star Anthony Davis. Hopefully, we see Kevin Durant end up on a contending team for next season, and it’ll be interesting to see if he ends up being able to win another championship in the future.
