Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts during game against the Miami Heat at Barclays Center
Somehow the NBA offseason is quickly coming to an end and NBA media days are taking place next week for several teams across the league. The Brooklyn Nets are expected to have one of the most can’t miss media days after the whirlwind summer that took place in New York. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were both in rumors with the team all season long.
Kyrie Irving had a rather sloppy contract negotiation with the Nets after a drama-filled season with his stance on the COVID vaccine that made the point guard miss over 50 regular season games for the Nets. After the Nets were unwilling to sign Irving to a long-term extension it is believed that Durant’s frustrations and lack of trust for the organization reached an impasse and the superstar requested a trade from Brooklyn. The Nets spent the whole summer in trade talks that they may or may not have been serious in accomplishing. Ultimately Durant rescinded his request and both Brooklyn stars are expected to be back with the Nets.
Insider on When KD and Nets Trust was Lost
On the September 21 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Logan Murdock, who Simmons called a KD whisperer joined the show and gave valuable insight on the Durant situation in Brooklyn and hinted at a situation where the relationship may have soured.
Simmons hinted to Murdock his belief that the Nets drama may have kicked off after some articles were released with clearly leaked information about Kyrie Irving. Simmons noted the close relationship between Sean Marks and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and how a story Wojnarowski wrote had information that was clearly leaked by people within the Nets organization.
“Well, to your point, there was a story that came out…right there between the break and going into the bubble, and there was this Woj story talking about Kyrie in a bunch of different ways, right? In hindsight, it didn’t really seam like the most. It seemed very one-sided, lets say. There was the Kyrie piece that seemed very one-sided from ESPN. So if you’re Kyrie or you’re Kevin, you’re like, ‘What the hell?’ Like we are supposed to be a teammate,” Murdock told Simmons on the podcast. “Kyrie and KD think of this as a partnership, right? Between all parties and just in hindsight thinking, I’m not saying that’s when the distrust started. But if you’re looking from their vantage point, you’re like, ‘Hey Man, why are we doing this?’ If they think that someone is leaking something like that they’d be like, ‘Why would you do that?’…and I’m just throwing that out the way. That happened a few times where it was like, ‘oh okay, we’re going to leak blame Kyrie. We’re not going to blame Kyrie outright, but we’re just going to leak blame him to one of our trusted guys.
The number one source for Durant’s trade request that was cited was him not trusting the Nets’ front office, which of course, was evident in the ultimatum that Durant gave the Nets. How much did this story Murdock shared play a role? That’s unknown, but the fact that it has happened multiple times is a good indicator to what could cause a lack of trust.
Logan Murdock’s Past Story of Durant Frustration
Durant’s frustration with the Nets escalated when he saw how the Nets handled the Kyrie Irving contract negotiations, according to one NBA insider. On the Ringer NBA’s podcast ‘The Mismatch,’ Logan Murdock shared what sources told him led to Durant’s trade request.
“I made some calls. Kevin Durant has not talked to the team in weeks. I don’t think Kevin is confident in the front office right now. I don’t know if he’s at the stage of leaving, but there’s a big uneasiness from not only from the Kyrie side but the KD side as well…
“His biggest beef is that he feels that the front office didn’t grow to understand Kyrie, whatever that means. I would push back on that when a guy leaves for two weeks at a time … Kyrie earns the lion’s share of the blame. But I think KD believes that ‘hey, you guys didn’t understand this guy. You didn’t try to figure out where he was coming from.’
“The Nets got rid of Adam Harrington, whose very close to Kevin. He’s one of Kevin’s guys. And that had a big ripple effect on how Kevin feels about this right now. He’s still in this figure-it-out mode, but there is some fire to that smoke that he’s kind of reevaluating where he stands with this.”