Kevin Durant wasn’t interested in a Warriors reunion after it was revealed Golden State took a stab at trading him before the deadline.
Rumors about why he didn’t want to return were absolutely rife. One of the main rumors was that he didn’t want to play with Draymond Green again – the player who was partly responsible for Durant’s departure.
But KD wants to put those rumors to bed and explained that he simply didn’t want to uproot his lief in Phoenix mid-season.
“People talk crazy about me all the time,” Durant said in an exclusive interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “That’s not the reason why I didn’t want to come back, I just didn’t want to get traded midway through the season. It was nothing against my time with the Warriors, or I heard because I didn’t like Draymond. At the end of the day, I just didn’t want to move and I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix and see what we can do the rest of the season. I’m glad I’m still there.”
Steve Kerr was asked about the rumored deal over the All-Star weekend and completely understood why Durant didn’t want to return to The Bay.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Kerr told ESPN. “He took so much s–t for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon’ [when he signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2016]. And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized.”
He also made it clear that since he joined the Suns in 2023, that he’s never requested a trade.
“You gotta ask the front office about that…I didn’t ask for a trade from Phoenix.”
Former Heat legend Udonis Haslem thinks that KD is “outta there when the summertime come.”
He appeared on NBA Today and explained that as soon as a player, like KD, refers to the front pffice as “them” or the “higher up’s” it means there’s a disconnect.
Haslem called Durant in Phoenix a “failed project”.
READ MORE: Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss Breaks Silence on Doncic-Davis Trade