Kevin Durant may be looking forward to a fresh start with the Suns after a difficult tenure with the Nets, but the 34-year-old superstar revealed on a recent episode of his podcast that he was “disappointed” that Kyrie Irving requested a trade from Brooklyn in instead of finishing the season with Durant.
The Nets granted Irving’s request and traded him to the Mavericks on February 5. Four days later, Durant was traded to Phoenix in one of the biggest midseason trades in NBA history. Despite Irving’s surprise trade request on Feb. 3 and his off-court troubles often overshadowing the Nets during his shared tenure with Durant in Brooklyn, Durant made it clear he holds no grudge against Irving.
“I’m disappointed that we’re not going to finish the season, but I also know that we’re all our own separate entities,” Durant said. “We all move on and do the things we want to do for our careers. I can’t fault anyone for doing that even though it could have cost us as a team. That’s who he is and that’s what he wanted to do ., and I can’t have a problem with that.
“I don’t want to act like I’m not upset that we didn’t finish the season because I love playing with Ky. I wanted to see where we can go with this because we were both playing at a high level. That’s all I’m focused on this league is the hoop, no… what [Kyrie] he was doing behind the scenes with his contract negotiations. I don’t even want to think about these things. Whatever he does, this is who he is and I trust he will make the right moves so that he and his family can move forward.”
[Kevin Durant and the Suns are all-in on NBA title chase]
Durant said he and Irving haven’t spoken at length since their respective trades, but he hopes to have a conversation with Irving “at some point.”
Durant also acknowledged that Irving’s dispute with the Nets over the status of his contract going forward — Irving will be a free agent next offseason and a breakdown in extension talks with Brooklyn — appears to factor into his demand. commercial, it affected the rest of the team’s play.
“But I can separate what we do on the floor and who we are as human beings,” Durant said. “I know you have your own situation that has nothing to do with what we’re doing. You have to move the way you have to move to get better. . . . I probably wouldn’t have understood that. seven or eight years ago [but] I’ve been through my situations with moving teams and feel like I needed a new situation. I’ve been through it all, so I can understand your point of view. I can still be upset that we don’t get the job done, though [you’re] cool with me.”
Is anything less than a title a failure for Kevin Durant with the Suns?
Durant will take the court for the first time as a Phoenix Sun on Wednesday in his return from a sprained MCL suffered on Jan. 8. He is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 39 games. this season
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