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Kevin Durant walked across the Brooklyn Nets' practice court to a group of reporters following practice Friday. When he heard the first question focused on his trade request, he answered with notable exhaustion.
“Can we move on past that at some point?” Durant asked. “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.”
As much as Durant wants to move past the story that dominated the summer, the discussion amongst the NBA community won’t go away any time soon. The 12-time All-Star’s ultimatum calling for his general manager and head coach to be fired was an unprecedented move. Less than two months later, Brooklyn comes into the season with many questioning whether the team can survive the drama of the offseason. Despite this, Durant said the Nets have been building chemistry quickly early in training camp.
“We all like each other and have hung out with each other so far,” he said. “We go out and have a drink or dinner with each other. I think that’s camaraderie in itself that you just like being around your teammates.”
“Naturally, you become friends with your teammates,” he continued. “That’s the easiest part when you are traveling on the bus or the plane. That stuff matters. We want to take advantage of that stuff as well. When we get on the floor, we have to hold each other accountable.”
That wasn’t the case at last year's camp with Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status hanging over the team, and James Harden reportedly out of shape and already devising his exit strategy. That internal turmoil led to a lack of cohesion that doomed Brooklyn's season and led Durant to question his future with the Nets.
However, camp has a different feel this year. Brooklyn had a team dinner at Lucali, a well-known Brooklyn pizzeria Thursday night, and several players have spoken about an intense, day-to-day approach. When asked about his decision to return this season, Durant said conversations with owner Joe Tsai, as well as general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash, helped put his mind at ease.
“I was upset, and as a family, they understood that I was upset,” Durant said Friday. “Some of the stuff they agreed with, and so we talked about it, and it was over a couple of weeks towards the end of that where we talked about it, and we came out and we 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.”
A night in Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/hdbBvcf9yJ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 30, 2022
Brooklyn has four practices under its belt, with Durant getting a chance to play alongside several new teammates. The former MVP said at media day that he liked what Marks did with the team this summer. Friday, Durant again mentioned the strength of the roster when speaking about his decision to rescind his trade request.
“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, you know, we're starting to set something up in the future to be a solid team. So, to be honest, like I thought it was still a great option, too.”
The Nets were noticeably undersized in their first-round sweep against the Boston Celtics in last year’s playoffs. Three of Brooklyn's starters stood 6’4” or under. Boston had only one starter under 6’6”: DPOY Marcus Smart. Durant struggled with the small supporting cast as his team was physically outclassed on both ends.
Brooklyn has significant reinforcements on the way with the return of Joe Harris and Ben Simmons, along with the acquisitions of Royce O’Neale, T.J. Warren, and more. When asked what he liked about the team’s offseason moves, Durant pointed to added size, versatility, and experience.
“Were versatile, we got bigger guys,” he said. “Last year in the playoffs we played a lot of smaller guys under 6-4; a lot of them played against a big team in the Celtics. I think we got bigger as a group overall.”
“And we’ve got a lot of IQ in the building as well,” he continued. “Royce played in some playoff stretches. Ben obviously, Seth. So we’ve got some playoff experience in here that’s going to help down the line.”
Scenes from the gym pic.twitter.com/fFY3VMGB3O
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 28, 2022
Despite one of the most chaotic offseasons in league history, Durant spoke with confidence Friday about the Nets' potential if healthy. And the 14-year veteran's comments indicate no reservations regarding the team’s ability to find the chemistry they lacked last season.
“When you look at the grand scheme of things, we haven't been healthy at all for two years,” he said. “Each playoffs, we've had major guys miss minutes, not just role players, guys that make a lot of money. So when you got $50 million on your bench this last playoffs with Joe and Ben, and then playoffs before that. I want to see what our team looks like in full with guys being healthy and us having a little bit of continuity. So, we'll see what happens.”
“I still love my teammates, still love playing in the Barclays,” he continued. “So I felt like regardless it was gonna be an easy decision to come back and play because I love the hoop.”
