Speaking to reporters tonight for the first time since James Harden was traded to the Sixers, Nets star Kevin Durant said he didn’t realize that Harden was unhappy in Brooklyn until he saw media reports over the past week, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Durant is rehabbing a sprained left knee that has sidelined him since January 15 and has limited the time he spends with teammates. He was on the bench Thursday night for the first time since being injured.
“I wasn’t around the team to really, really see the vibe,” Durant said. “But I know the losses hurt us, and I know my injury might have hurt the team a bit not being around. And then Kyrie [Irving] in and out the lineup. But I didn’t really get a feel for the team because I wasn’t around.”
Friedell states that Harden seemed fully committed to the Nets until recently, noting that just a week and a half ago he said the team had enough talent to compete for a title with a full roster. However, Harden ultimately made a direct request this week to general manager Sean Marks and team owner Joe Tsai to send him to Philadelphia.
Durant doesn’t know what changed, but said he won’t be reaching out to Harden to get an explanation of why he felt he had to leave.
“James doesn’t have to explain anything to anybody,” Durant said. “He’s his own man. He makes his decisions on his career by himself. He doesn’t owe anybody an explanation, and I wasn’t looking for one. I’m just glad that we got this thing done and now we’re able to move forward and get some of this noise away, and I’m sure he would feel the same way. But from around our team and around our group, there’s noise about what may happen. So I’m glad we can push through that.”
There have been reports that Durant talked to Harden recently in an effort to convince him to stay at least through the end of the season. Durant refused to confirm that and added that nothing he could have said would have changed Harden’s mind.
“I think once a person gets to that decision of ‘I’m unhappy,’ I think he’s gone through a lot of steps to get there,” Durant said. “So no matter what I say or try to convince someone — I’m not saying I did this, but this is just my theory on this — no matter what I say or do to try to convince someone to change their mood from being unhappy to happy, I think that’s when I’m pretty late to the party. He’s made his decision. I’m sure people make their decision before they get to that mode of being unhappy. I didn’t have any conversations with James up until then. I thought everything was solid. I don’t do any convincing. I’m sure you make those choices and decisions on your own as an individual. Me as a friend, I just have to accept it.”
With the Harden distraction gone, the Nets now have to focus on turning around their season. Brooklyn has fallen into eighth place in the East after 10 straight losses, and there’s no definite date on when Durant might be able to resume playing or when Ben Simmons will join the team.
Durant said he’s focused on getting the team back on the right path and didn’t express any regrets over the breakup of the Big Three, who played only 16 games together but were 13-3 as a group.
“I feel like the basketball we played was a good brand of basketball while we were out on the floor, so I can live with what we did,” Durant said. “The outside noise and all that other stuff that happened, and how people feel about their time here … but once we actually laced them up and played basketball together, I think it was a good brand. So you could live with that.”
After watching the Sixers dismantle the supposed new power in the east upstart Cleveland, behind the best player in the NBA jojo , the BEARD, made the correct decision.
Yea okay dude. Literally liked an IG post about Harden wanting a trade. We knew KD okayed the trade as soon as that went viral. You think they’d do a trade an not talk to KD? They may not have talked to Kyrie bc he was too busy being off on a mission to prove that birds aren’t real. But they definitely spoke with KD about it.
Birds definitely aren’t real, and the moon actually is made of cheese.
Don’t trust KD’s word about anything. Did you see how rude he was to the TNT cast? Dudes acted like a jerk so many times. He’s nasty on the court, can’t take that away from him. But yeah, you made great points and I’m glad people are calling him out on his BS
I’m trying to understand Durant and find it impossible. Here’s a guy who went off on Kerr about feeling disrespected, but wants to be happy face about two buddies who were supposed to be all-in on the Nets dominating for the next five years and left him holding the bag. Guess one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. Odd logic
Durant yuking it up with Lebron and the TBS TV team while putting down Harden pretty much says where he’s coming from.
Sure. He had no clue anything was wrong.
The man is Teflon coated. Can do and say no wrong. When the media is behind you in this country a person can get away with anything.
The sooner the ossifying generation of me-first narcissistic money-grabbing celebrity-driven players retire so the public can get their attention on the young stars of the NBA, the better. They act and speak reasonably, with real humility as opposed to reciting the words as they’re trained for by speech coaches their agents hire to “market their brand”.
They also play a far superior brand of basketball that’s fun to watch.
Well written mate!
But my take away is still “you seriously don’t like LeBron and Durant’s game”? Like seriously?
Maybe fans share some blame in this as well as we often conflate personalities (that we like or don’t) with what ACTUALLY happens after the ball is tipped
Saying that the media is behind Kevin Durant is absolutely asinine. There are 4 dudes that the NBA media love to criticize and they’ve all played for the Nets at some point this season
Nah. They got rid of the cancer and now I dont have to root against the Nets anymore. Boo 6ers booo boo.
They got rid of a “cancer” but now have Kyrie and Simmons? Ok
Media is a pretty general term for basically anyone with a public opinion who gets paid for it. Idk which outlets you pay attention to, but I heard plenty of players get criticized. Anthony Davis and Westbrook def didn’t play for the Nets lol. I can give more examples but why bother?
Russ essentially plays for every team except the Lakers this season so my point still stands
That’s funny, I’ll give you that one
In 10 years you’ll be saying the same things about the next crop of divas like Young, Tatum and Zion. The league has always had a mix of both larger than life personas like Chamberlain, Dr J, Jabbar, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Iverson, Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Westbrook, Durant and Harden but there’s also been the soft-spoken greatness of Russell, West, Frazier, Gilmore, Aguirre, Olajuwon, Ewing, Stockton, Robinson, Duncan, Nowitzki, Curry and Giannis. I know I missed a lot of names from both sides of the spectrum but they’re all part of what’s makes the NBA and why I personally will always be a fan.
@samuel
you hold some sort of hate in your veins. Durant is far, far from beloved by the media. I thought the all-star voting was funny. What is he supposed to do? he never, ever said a word about Harden.
I get injured players can be disconnected from the team, and team situations are different, but don’t most injured players hang around on the bench? I mean, KD could have been closer if he wanted to?
Exactly one of the thoughts I had. You’re the franchise player who’s consulted about all decisions and now you’re copping out saying you had no idea how Harden felt because you weren’t around lol? Meanwhile everyone on NBA radio sirius XM knew something was up … but you didn’t? Yeah right Durant. Can’t wait until you get old and leave the NBA. So sick of your horrible personality!
@Lyman
Dude Harden never said a single word to any of the players. Nets found out he was unhappy because he was using back channels that got back to the front office. I think what he meant was that Harden never said anything to him.
That’s fair, but if they’re superstar teammates chasing a ring together then why don’t they talk to eachother? Second of all, how was Durant not aware of all the rumors that Harden wasn’t happy and why was it reported on this site that Durant was approached by his agent about how he’d feel if the nets dealt Harden? Wouldn’t you immediately reach out to Harden and have a man to man after that? So I still find it very hard to believe that Durant was surprised by this. It really seems impossible.
“Simmons’ agent Rich Paul met with Nets star Kevin Durant and Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman nearly a month ago and pitched the idea of a Harden/Simmons swap, per Wojnarowski and Shelburne. Durant initially wasn’t interested in the idea, but the equation changed after he injured his knee and Harden became increasingly disengaged during his absence.”
That’s directly from this site. I was wrong about who’s agent it was. But how can you read that and then not think Durants lying when he says he was surprised?
I think it’s POSSIBLE Durant interpreted that pitch as an idea Simmons’ camp was pushing for and not one that Harden wanted.
I do agree that it seems implausible that Durant was entirely caught off guard by this, but if you assume he doesn’t necessarily take “rumors” at face value and that Harden never spoke to teammates about how he felt, I could buy him being surprised, at least, by how quickly it escalated.
@Lyman
My apologies. When I read the previous article I must have misread. I thought Kleiman was Harden’s agent. I was wrong and in fact, Harden doesn’t have any representation which I suppose was the reason why he was asking other agents, etc about how to strategize getting a trade done. But that also speaks on how passive-aggressive he is in that he never really spoke directly of his unhappiness to teammates, etc and just recently expressed his desires to Nets management. Dude is so week. Don’t be shocked if he ends up signing with Paul for his next contract. He’s the “Bad guy” players go to for the things they know will provoke backlash.
No problem man, I appreciate you being real with me.
“James doesn’t have to explain anything to anybody,” Durant said.
That’s the article. That’s all we need.
Durent is straight lying. This site just reported a day ago that last month Durants agent approached him about a potential Harden for Simmons swap. So how can he possibly be surprised? Just more proof that Durant has no integrity at all.
@Lyman
No. The article said that Rich Paul approached Harden and his agent about his desire to play in Philly. Durant isn’t the GM. Im surrrrre Marks consulted him before the trade but that’s about it.
Harden ran CP3 out of town. Then he runs off to Brooklyn and leaves in 1 year because they aren’t as much as a superteam as he thought. What a legacy.
People should stop whining – this is a ‘win-win situation, yet still a reason to complain for some (a lot) of people? Good for the game and the chances both teams have for the title.
It seems like most people are questioning KDs words and his approach because that is what the post is about? It isn’t about trade grades or how it impacts the teams.
So anyone who has a different take than you, is whining? Should we not post candidly about our thoughts, in case someone like you calls it whining?
Durant is not an effective leader of the team if he isolates himself and does not know what is going on.
Harden wants a ring. He made the move to get it. The Nets did not need 3 scorers. Simmons is the perfect fit for this team. Drummond and Curry fill the other needs. Philly needed to do all it could to win this year. The Nets set themselves cup for years to come with Simmons and still a shot this year.,
Interesting scenario for Harden…JoJo suffers a severe injury which puts him out for a year. Will Harden force his way out again because his ring chances drop dramatically? Hire a gunslinger and they may paint the town red and leave!