The 35-year-old joined the Phoenix Suns in February 2023
It’s approaching one year since Kevin Durant was surprisingly traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Brooklyn Nets and the 2018 NBA Finals MVP has explained why he asked to leave the organization.
The reasons, as it turns out, was to pursue NBA glory with the power forward citing that the inconsistency of the New York franchise took too much of a toll in the end.
“In Brooklyn? Yeah, it just wasn’t no consistency, no continuity on who we were as a team,” Durant said to the New York Post. “And when you want to win a championship, you’ve got to build an identity from Day 1, and it was just a lot of circumstances that were out of the players’ control that got in the way of us building our continuity.
“That’s just the business of basketball. That’s just the NBA in general. But we all got better as individual players, and we learned a lot from that experience – everybody from executives to players – and we can go about our NBA experience with more knowledge now.”
Durant already possesses an incredible legacy in the game so it’s understandable why he would take his talents elsewhere to step closer to extending his already eternal glory in one of the most popular sports in the USA and around the globe.
He is a two-time NBA champion (2017, 2018) whilst winning the NBA Finals MVP in both games. He was the 2014 NBA MVP, a 13-time All-Star, two-time All-Star game MVP (2012, 2019) and the rookie of the year in 2008. He is also a three-time Olympic gold medalist (2012, 2016, 2020). His career averages are 27.3 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and 4.3 assists per game – numbers he is performing above in 2023/24.
Durant had already asked to be traded once
The first instance of Durant requesting to leave the Nets, whom he joined in 2019, was in 2022 when he pushed to join the Phoenix Suns – where he is now. However, as the Suns refused to include Mikal Bridges in the trade, the 6ft 11in man had to remain in New York for an extra year.
“I did try [to move earlier], they just refused to get rid of me,” Durant said. “I tried, but time ran out. I wasn’t going to miss no games because of this whole thing.
“So once the season rolled around, I was just like, ‘Whatever happens, it happens’, and I just get ready for the season. So it worked out perfect timing, the way it’s supposed to.”
It’s a testament to his character that a player of his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 and reputation focused on playing ball instead of attempting to force the trade through by refusing to play.
