Kevin Durant trade request having 1 big impact on Nets schedule
Apr 23, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (7) looks up at the scoreboard in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Brooklyn Nets fans have another bone to pick with Kevin Durant this week.
The NBA formally released the 2022-23 season schedule for all 30 teams on Wednesday. Brian Lewis of the New York Post noted that the Nets only have 13 nationally televised games next season, down 50 percent from last year’s total of 26. Brooklyn has also been taken down to just one game on ABC (from five last season).
The dramatic cut in national TV games figures to have everything to do with Durant’s ongoing trade request. While other All-Stars like Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons are still on the Nets roster, the former MVP Durant has been the marquee attraction in Brooklyn over the last couple of seasons.
Whether Durant is gone from the Nets before the beginning of the season or otherwise fails to participate with the team, the greater scheduling powers that be are preparing for him to be unavailable for Brooklyn next season.
