Nets Owner Joe Tsai Releases Statement Amid Kevin Durant Report

The firm public stance comes amid a report that Kevin Durant issued an ultimatum.

Nets owner Joe Tsai broke his public silence regarding Kevin Durant’s trade request Monday, taking to Twitter to issue a firm defense of the franchise’s front office and coaching staff.

“Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Tsai wrote. “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”

Tsai’s brief statement comes in the wake of a face-to-face meeting with Durant over the weekend in London to discuss the star forward’s outstanding trade request. In the meeting, Durant reiterated his request to be moved out of Brooklyn, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. 

The 12-time All-Star reportedly informed Tsai that he did not have faith in the team’s direction and issued an ultimatum to the Nets owner, saying that Tsai needed to choose between Durant or general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash.

Marks has served as Brooklyn’s general manager since February 2016 and oversaw the signings of both Durant and Kyrie Irving prior to the 2019–20 campaign. Nash was hired as the team’s coach in September 2020. 

Despite the superstar duo of Durant and Irving, the Nets have failed to meet the lofty expectation of bringing a championship to Brooklyn. The Nets have posted an overall record of 92–62 over the past two seasons, but they haven’t advanced past the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last season, they were eliminated by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

The Celtics, Raptors and Heat still are considered to be the “most significant candidates” to acquire Durant, per Charania, but no team has been able to entice the Nets with an acceptable offer.

If Durant is traded, the Nets’ front office has expressed privately that the team plans to take “every last asset” from a team that trades for Durant, according to Charania.

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