Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant slammed his former coach Steve Kerr’s comments on why he rejected the multi-team trade at the deadline that would have reunited him with the Golden State Warriors.
Kerr pointed to the criticisms that Durant received when he joined the Warriors in 2016, which led to two championship runs and three NBA Finals appearances, as the reason why he did not want to return.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Kerr told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN last week. “He took so much [expletive] for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon.’ And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized.”
Durant vehemently denied it.
“People talk crazy about me all the time,” Durant told ESPN’s Malika Andrews in a revealing interview. “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 don’t like Draymond [Green]. 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 could do the rest of this season. I’m glad I’m still there.”
Nixed Kevin Durant Trade Framework
The Warriors aggressively pursued a Durant reunion at the trade deadline before they pivoted to Jimmy Butler.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne, a multi-team trade framework that would have seen Durant return to Golden State was discussed before he got wind of it and ultimately thumbed it down.
“The three-way talks even expanded to loop in Washington. Those talks included Butler, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, two first-round picks (from the Warriors) and two second-round picks (one each from the Heat and Warriors), and pick swaps going to the Suns, sources said. The Warriors would’ve received Durant, while the Heat could’ve received Wiggins, Cleveland’s 2025 first-round pick (via Phoenix), Dennis Schroder and Kyle Anderson,” Windhorst and Shelburne wrote.
Durant rejected the Warriors in a conversation with Stephen Curry, Windhorst and Shelburne reported.
“Curry wanted a read on how Durant would feel about returning to the team he had chosen to leave after the 2019 Finals, sources said.
“Durant told him it didn’t “feel right” and that this “wasn’t the time” to revisit their basketball partnership, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations. He added he was happy in Phoenix and wasn’t looking to play elsewhere,” Windhorst and Shelburne wrote.
Jimmy Butler Wasn’t a Bad Second Choice
The Warriors could not have asked for a better second-choice with Butler as the six-time NBA All-Star wing has seamless fit in.
Butler’s addition has revitalized the Warriors, who are now tied with the Sacramento Kings for ninth seed in the Western Conference with an identical 28-27 record.
Golden State is 3-1 since Butler joined the lineup.
The 35-year-old Butler averaged 21.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists while making 8.5 of 10 free throw attempts in his first four games with the Warriors.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Kevin Durant Calls Out Steve Kerr After Trade Rejection: ‘That’s Not the Reason’ appeared first on Heavy Sports.