NBA champions Kevin Durant and Draymond Green recently talked on Green’s podcast and Durant revealed why he was against a trade back to the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors had a deal to acquire Durant from the Phoenix Suns, but Durant blocked it because he didn’t want to get traded.
“I don’t feel like there was a need to make that big a change right now,” Durant said. “It didn’t make sense to me. … I’m trying to see this through to the end and see what we can really do with it. I feel like I’m committed to my coaches and teammates and I want to see it through. I wanted to lock in on that.”
Durant played for the Warriors from 2016-17 to 2018-19. He led Golden State to two straight championships in 2017 and 2018, winning both Finals MVPs.
In Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, Durant tore his Achilles. The Warriors lost to the Raptors in six games and Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Steve Kerr, who coached Durant with Golden State and USA Basketball, told ESPN. “He took so much s— for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon’ [when he signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2016]. And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized. So why would he want to face all that B.S. again?”
One of the best players in NBA history, Durant is making $51.2 million this season. He’ll make $54.7 million next season in the final year of his contract.
Durant is a four-time scoring champion, a two-time champion, a two-time Finals MVP and a one-time regular-season MVP. The future Hall of Famer has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors, Nets and Suns.
Durant is averaging 26.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 45 games this season while shooting 53.0% from the field, 40.2% from beyond the arc and 82.8% from the free-throw line. The Texas product turns 37 in September.
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