Kevin Durant Reveals Truth About Trade Request From Brooklyn Nets

KD and the Brooklyn Nets are moving forward after a complicated summer
NBAE via Getty Images
In this story:

After requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, superstar forward Kevin Durant has returned to his team. This seemed like an impossible outcome at times during the summer, but with Brooklyn being unimpressed by any of the offers they received, the team decided to work things out with their best player.

On media day, Durant was unsurprisingly asked about his trade request. Admitting he had doubts about Brooklyn's direction, Durant also said that he voiced those doubts to everyone in the organization, which helped lead to his eventual return.

"As the season went on, you see what happened with our season, guys in and out of the lineup, injuries, just a lot of uncertainty, which built some doubt in my mind about the next four years in my career," Durant told reporters on media day. "I mean, I’m getting older, and I want to be in a place that’s stable and trying to build a championship culture. So I had some doubts about that."

On his level of optimism going forward, Durant continued by saying, "But in my mind, I did like what we did, what Sean put together this summer with the team. I knew that with all the adversity that we hit, and a lot of failures that we hit as a team last year, guys are gonna be working to get better and be better and try to not make that a trend."

When asked during training camp about some of the potential inaccuracies that existed in the coverage of his trade request, Durant understandably asked if reporters could finally move on from that topic.

"Can we move on past that at some point? I know it's an interesting story. I know that it took up most of the offseason and drama sells, I get that, but I didn't miss any games, I didn't miss any practices, I'm still here," Durant said, per ESPN's Nick Friedell.

While his trade request was the story of the summer, Kevin Durant has explained nearly everything that went into it, and wants to finally move forward with his team.


Published
Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn32@sbcglobal.net Education: Communication Studies degree from Biola University Location: Los Angeles, California Expertise: NBA analysis, insight, and reporting Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Receiving a media credential during the 2021-22 season, Joey has experience interviewing NBA players, and developing exclusive stories from these interviews. Having appeared on several different NBA podcasts over the last four seasons, Joey is now hosting his own podcast for The Sporting Tribune. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Now graduated, Joey is covering the NBA full-time across multiple platforms. Credentialed by the Clippers, Joey covers the team daily with articles, podcasts, and video breakdowns on YouTube. With four years of sports media experience, Joey provides expert insight and analysis for NBA fans across the league.