Subscribe
Follow Us
The drama may be over between Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets, but you can be sure that the repercussions of KD's trade demand and succeeding decision to do a complete U-turn will be grave. Just ask ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith.
Speaking on a recent episode of First Take, Stephen A did not hold back as he spoke out about the potential blowback of not only the Kevin Durant saga, but that of Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, and James Harden as well (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):
“Wait until CBA negotiations come, you gonna have rules named after these guys,” Smith stated. “… You can sit up there and be the biggest headache in the world. Owners and executives in the NBA will get over it if you show up and play. You show up and play, and you ball, and the results follow you, they'll tolerate a lot.”
Needless to say, the Nets have been through a lot over the past year or so. You have to say that they have managed all these relatively well, though, especially if you consider that KD, Kyrie, and Simmons are still going to be with the team (presumably) to start the new season. However, now that that's all water under the bridge (at least for now), Smith is adamant that these turn of events will cause shockwaves in the league for years to come.
Article Continues Below
Stephen A was quick to point out that owners and executives from around the league can't be happy about all this. As such, he expects them to make the necessary moves to protect teams from the players and these types of situations.
“I have never seen owners these gung-ho,” he continued. “I mean, they're tired of it. What has happened in Brooklyn alone is enough to have set NBA players back decades. That's the kind of damage that this nonsense that was going on has done.”
"Wait until CBA negotiations come, you gon' have rules named after these guys…What has happened in Brooklyn alone is enough to have set NBA players back decades."@stephenasmith says NBA owners are tired of players taking advantage of their contracts 😳pic.twitter.com/EpbhdIpsn7
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 24, 2022
At the end of the day, however, you can still see this as somewhat of a win for Brooklyn. They stood their ground, and despite Kevin Durant's incessant desire to jump ship, at the end of the day, he's still going to be a Net in 2022-23. As Stephen A Smith implied, however, the damage has been done.
