Kevin Durant says Kyrie Irving never gave him a heads up that he was going to request a trade out of Brooklyn.
Durant made the comments at his introductory press conference with the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
“Yeah, I was upset that we couldn’t finish,” Durant said. “I thought we would’ve had some good momentum. We were finally building the culture that we always wanted. I felt like every game we were building our chemistry. But I didn’t know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organization, so I didn’t really focus on that. I only focused on what we were doing on the court.”
Durant went on to say Irving’s trade request “was a blow to our team”.
“It just took away our identity,” he said. “He was a huge, huge part to what we do. His game — he’s a Hall of Fame player, a great, great player that can do everything on the floor, and we relied on that. So without him, we didn’t have a clear identity. So that was tough for me to stomach.”
Those who recall Kevin Durant requesting a trade of his own in the preseason may find these comments a little rich, but that’s the modern NBA for you.
If you aren’t requesting a trade at least once per season, are you even an NBA superstar?