Kevin Durant explains why he nixed Warriors trade at NBA deadline
Kevin Durant revealed why he did not want to run to return to the Bay Area, and it had nothing to do with his past experiences with the Warriors.
Durant, 36, nixed a three-team deal before the NBA’s trade deadline earlier in February that would have sent him to the Warriors.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had speculated that it had to do with the “s–t” he took his first time around, but Durant told ESPN on Tuesday that it was a much simpler reason.
“People talk crazy about me all the time,” Durant said. “That’s not the reason why I didn’t want to come back, I just didn’t want to get traded midway through the season. It was nothing against my time with the Warriors, or I heard because I don’t like Draymond [Green]. At the end of the day, I just didn’t want to move and I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix and see what we could do the rest of this season. I’m glad I’m still there.”
Durant’s comments came after Kerr spoke on the topic with ESPN last week.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Kerr told the outlet. “He took so much s–t for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon.’ And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized.”
It was previously reported that the deal would have involved the Warriors, Suns and Heat.
The Warriors ended up turning their attention to Jimmy Butler after the deal for Durant fell apart.
Durant insisted during the sit-down with ESPN that he had not asked for a trade out of Phoenix.
The NBA superstar was traded to the Suns in the middle of 2023 after the Nets ended their Big 3 era in Brooklyn.
