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Kevin Durant wasn’t motivated by spite when he requested his trade from the Brooklyn Nets and landed with the Phoenix Suns.
The 13-time All-Star explained to The Athletic’s Shams Charania that he thought the relatively rapid resolution to the matter reflected positively on the Nets as an organization:
“I wanted the best for us every game. I hated it had to go down like that. I wasn’t trying to prove the Nets is a s–tty organization. I was trying to prove that the Nets are a great organization, that they care about their players, want the best for their players. Certain s–t just didn’t work out. I understand that. I’m not here trying to prove that the Nets was wrong; I think they did amazing by me the whole time I was there, not just with the trade. Coming off the Achilles injury, get back into playing—they made sure they were there for me every step of the way. And I appreciate that for life. I feel like we’ll be tied as family members for life regardless of how it finished.”
The Nets took great pains to portray themselves as a player-first organization, particularly after they signed Durant and Kyrie Irving in 2019. Acquiescing to their stars’ trade demands helped further that perception.
In the case of Durant, Brooklyn could’ve waited until the offseason to see whether another team was willing to top Phoenix’s offer. The New Orleans Pelicans dug their heels in with Anthony Davis ahead of the 2019 trade deadline despite him explicitly making it clear he wanted out.
The Nets got KD to his preferred destination, and the Nets collected a pretty solid return, notably Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four first-round draft picks.
How Brooklyn accommodated Durant right up until the end of his tenure could help the franchise land the next big star that either hits free agency or the trade market.
There were some lessons to be learned from how the Nets pushed player empowerment to its breaking point, though.
You can run down the list of everything Brooklyn did to keep Durant and Irving happy. DeAndre Jordan started at center over Jarrett Allen. Kenny Atkinson was fired, taking the culture he had established with him. The James Harden trade and the other James Harden trade. Team officials drew a line in the sand with Irving when he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine until they didn’t anymore, eventually welcoming him back as a part-time player in 2021-22.
And in the end, Durant and Irving still asked out anyway, with a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals the most to show from the grand experiment.
Whatever goodwill the Nets retained through dealing the pair may not outweigh the damage done to their wider reputation.