Nets’ Kevin Durant explains why he thought that Brooklyn could win a title
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Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant could have been on any team that he wanted to in this past offseason. Even though he was entering a brand new contract with the Nets, he requested a trade because of the uncertainty surrounding Brooklyn after being swept by the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA playoffs.
Going into the series, it was viewed by many sportsbooks as an even series because of the star power on both teams. Unfortunately, Brooklyn was no match for the Celtics and did not win a game. In the offseason, the Nets did not want to make a long-term commitment to Kyrie Irving. After Irving exercised his player option, Durant requested a trade.
After nothing happened on the trade front, Durant spoke to the front office and ownership and subsequently rescinded his request. He expressed confidence in Brooklyn’s ability to win and he explained to ESPN’s Nick Friedell why:
“I don’t even look at (expletive) that way. My whole thing was like — are we, does the process matter to us? And that’s one thing I did know that people here enjoy, grinding. So that was the most important thing for me. Titles and stuff come with the process in which you — how you prepare. It was more so, “All right, are we going to practice harder? Are we going to pay more attention to detail?” Not just everybody else, all of us, me included. Is that going to be preached to us every day? I had the faith that that would happen because I voiced that throughout the summer as well. Even behind the scenes, like, “Yo, this is what I like to do. This is how I like to practice.” I’ve been saying that for the last couple years, so I figured at that point with me going through that, they understood what I value. That’s what I was hanging my hat on, the preparation side of it.”
Durant is currently dealing with a right MCL sprain suffered in Sunday’s 102-101 win over the Miami Heat. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
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