Kevin Durant faced a new wave of criticism when he requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets over the summer, but the 12-time All-Star does not regret the way he handled the situation.
Durant opened up about his trade request in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes this week. He explained that he wanted out of Brooklyn because he felt the team was not working hard enough. Durant said he wanted to be held more “accountable.”
“It wasn’t difficult at all to request a trade because it was about ball,” Durant said. “I went to them and was like, ‘Yo, I don’t like how we are preparing. I don’t like shootarounds. I like practices. I need more. I want to work on more s—. Hold me accountable. Get on my a– in film if that’s going to help you get on everybody else’s head. I want to do more closeouts. I want to work on more shell drills at practice.’”
Durant said he did not feel like anyone was on the same page with him at the time, though he noted that Jacque Vaughn is now. That is noteworthy since there were reports that K.D. no longer wanted to play for former Nets coach Steve Nash.
“I had some complaints in the summer, and my complaints were not about just me; it was about how we are moving as a unit,” Durant added. “I want us to be respected out here in the basketball world. I don’t want players to look at us and say, ‘Oh man, these [expletive] are full of s—. That’s not the type of team I want to be on.’ So when we’re all playing like s—, you know the one person they’re going to look at. That’s why I requested a trade.”
That is not exactly going to change the perception of Durant as a player who tries to flee in the face of adversity. He essentially admitted that he felt the Nets were going nowhere and did not want to be blamed for it.
Durant claims he is happy with the current state of the Nets despite their 6-9 record. Given the harsh comments he made about his teammates this week, it is fair to wonder how long that will last.
