‘A lot of s*** was inaccurate’: Kevin Durant slams reporting of his offseason Brooklyn Nets ‘trade me or fire the coach’ ultimatum and insists he wants to ‘move on’: ‘I still love my teammates… I’m glad I’m here’
Kevin Durant has urged the media to move on from his offseason trade drama and insists all is well behind the scenes at the Brooklyn Nets despite him reportedly asking to leave if coach Steve Nash wasn’t fired.
Durant’s future has dominated headlines ahead of the new NBA season, but the star forward has now lifted the lid on the last few months – and claims a lot of what was reported in the media was inaccurate.
‘Can we move on past that at some point?’ Durant asked Friday. ‘I mean, I know it’s an interesting story. I know that it took up most of the offseason and the drama sells, I get that. But I didn’t miss any games. I didn’t miss any practices. I’m still here. So hopefully, we can move past that.
Star forward Kevin Durant has opened up on his offseason trade demands at the Brooklyn Nets
Durant reportedly asked to be traded, or for coach Steve Nash (right) and the GM to be fired
‘It’s a lot of s*** that was inaccurate. But I don’t want to go through it right now. We don’t [have] that much time right now.’
It was widely reported that Durant had asked to be traded, or for head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks to be fired, in the offseason.
Neither scenario has come to fruition, though, and it appears the 2022-23 season will begin much the same as the last one ended, with Durant, Nash and Marks all still at the organization.
The trio met, along with owner Joe Tsai, on August 22 in Los Angeles to clear the air, and Durant has now revealed more details about the tense affair.
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‘Well, I was upset and, as a family, they understood that I was upset,’ he added. ‘Some of the stuff they agreed with, so we talked about it. And it was over a couple of months, couple of weeks towards the end of that where we talked about it.Â
Durant met with Nash, Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai (pictured center) to clear the air
The NBA star was reportedly furious with both Marks (left) and Nash (right) and wanted out
‘We came out and voiced all our concerns about how we all can be better, and it just worked out from there. I’m glad I’m here now.’
Durant has a four-year, $192million extension that is triggered this season, and reporters went on to ask why exactly he decided to stay in New York, rather than push through with his trade demands.
‘I felt like we had a good team,’ Durant said. ‘I felt like this is a place that I said I wanted to be, and we’re starting to set something up in the future to be a solid team. So, to be honest, I thought it was still a great option, too.
‘I didn’t want it to get in the way of the games being played. I still love my teammates, love playing at the Barclays. So I felt like it regardless is going to be an easy decision to come back and play, because I love to hoop.Â
The Nets were thrashed in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season, but Durant stayed
He insists he still loves his teammates and wants to move on from his offseason trade drama
‘This has been a good environment for me the last two years, even though I had some doubts. But overall, looking at it I still like to come in here and get work in. So I just looked at that.’
Last season, the Nets went 44-38 in the regular season, but were dumped out of the playoffs in the first round against the Celtics, being humbled 0-4.
Golden State Warriors then went on to be crowned NBA champions, beating the Celtics 4-2 in the Finals.
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