Markieff Morris wasted no time voicing his opinion on Kevin Durant's trade saga at Day 1 of Brooklyn Nets training camp.
“That's the NBA man, you break up with a girlfriend, you get back with her,” Morris said Tuesday. “Same s–t. You air your differences until you figure it out.”
When asked if that approach can be successful, Morris responded affirmatively.
“Yeah, I mean I broke up with my wife a couple of times and we’re still married. S–t works,” he said. “Sometimes you need space to figure some things out.”
Durant informed media Monday that his trade request stemmed from concerns over the team's direction throughout last season. The 12-time All-Star said he felt things were being “swept under the rug” amid Brooklyn's struggles. Durant reportedly issued an ultimatum to owner Joe Tsai during an August meeting, calling for general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash to be fired.
“There was a lot of uncertainty around our team last year… We came to a mutual agreement that we should keep moving forward.”
-Kevin Durant on his offseason with the Nets. #NBAMediaDay pic.twitter.com/dlYEGmeoPP
— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 26, 2022
Nash said Tuesday the report was not fully accurate, claiming it was difficult to get the full scope of events through the media's lens.
“It’s not black-and-white like that,” he said.
As for his relationship with Durant, Nash said the offseason didn't cause tension the way people assumed it would.
“Knowing Kevin as long as I have, it didn't really bother me the way everyone would think,” he said. “That’s a part of being competitors. I wasn't overly surprised and I wasn't even overly concerned. This is something I thought we would address in time. We did and here we are.”
A two-time MVP with the Phoenix Suns during his playing days, Nash is entering his third season as Brooklyn's head coach. The Nets are 92-62 with one playoff series win during his time at the helm. Brooklyn posted one of the best records in the NBA early last season before Durant missed extended time with a sprained MCL. With Kyrie Irving absent and the Nets dealing with a series of untimely injuries, Brooklyn never got a chance to establish its rotation.
“There were 200-plus games lost last season to our rotation players,” Marks said. “That's a pretty tall order if I'm asking Steve to coach a rotation that he doesn't even know what it's going to look like on a nightly basis.”
Still, Durant said Monday that he felt the team was “losing games we shouldn't have been losing” during an 11-game winless streak mid-way through last season. The former MVP said he was unhappy with the team's approach as the year progressed.
“I was more so worried about how we were approaching every day as a basketball team,” Durant said at Media Day. “I felt like we could've fought through a lot of the stuff that I felt held us back. Championship teams do that.”
Durant, Marks and Nash each said the offseason forced several productive conversations. Marks said there were no hard feelings, citing the summer as an opportunity to re-evaluate the organization from top to bottom.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinions,” Marks said. “And I think, for us, it's not to hold a grudge against what Kevin said, but it's a little bit of saying, ‘Alright, if that's the way he feels, what's going on here?' What do we need to change? Is it personnel-driven? Is it logistics? Processes? What is it? What can we do to get back to that?”
“I hoped it would have never gotten there,” he continued. “But at the same time, I’m glad it did in one way because it’s forced us to reflect on this and get back to what’s important.”
Both appear to be on good terms with Durant heading into the 2022-23 season. When asked how he plans to handle adversity Brooklyn faces this season, Nash pointed to a simplistic, fundamental approach.
“Don't overcomplicate it, don't overthink it, don't make grandiose plans,” he said. “Get back to the basic fundamentals that are clear, simple, attainable, and that we can work at every single day. Once you lay the foundation, you get to work under those parameters and you start to build something, then you can start to get a little more sophisticated. But all great things are usually built on simplicity.”
"I'm getting older. I wanna be in a place that's stable and try to build a championship culture…we came to a mutual agreement that we should keep moving forward."
Kevin Durant reflects on his summer decision to stay with the Nets.
(via @_Talkin_NBA)pic.twitter.com/ob5F5K2XhI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) September 26, 2022
The Nets began laying that foundation Tuesday at practice number one. Brooklyn's offseason drama appears to be in the rearview mirror, and like Morris' analogy, the hope is that it stays that way.
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