“Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Joe Tsai said on Twitter hours after the publication of a report in which Kevin Durant wants the team to pick between him and the coaching staff and G.M.
Joe Tsai, the owner of the Nets released an endorsement of their front office as well as the coaching staff on Twitter Monday night, adding, “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”
The tweet appears to be in an apparent response to a report by The Athletic that said the player who is the team’s top forward, Kevin Durant, was still insistent on seeing the Nets comply with a demand for trade that he had put forward in the month of June.
Durant was considered to be one of N.B.A.’s most talented players, had a meeting with Tsai personally on the weekend The Athletic reported, and was able to condition his stay in the club on the dismissal of coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks. (Durant earlier had publicly praised Nash who was just finishing his second season as the Nets coach, saying at the beginning of the season Nash was able to manage this year’s Nets “perfectly.”)
The Nets have not responded to a request to comment A spokesperson for Durant’s firm, Boardroom, declined to make a statement.
Tsai’s tweet on Twitter was an unusually escalating of a simmering conflict between Durant 33 with the Nets. Tsai has not often spoken out about basketball-related issues publicly in the past, and just a year ago Durant seemed to be in love with the Nets and had signed the extension of his contract to four years to the organization he signed in the summer of.
However, Durant’s time with the Nets did not go according to plan and was characterized by turmoil.
Durant as he recovered from an Achilles tendon injury, joined the team along with his teammates, including the top centre Kyrie Irving as well as the experienced centre DeAndre Jordan. The 2020-21 season saw the Nets trade a lot of their young players together with a few draft players in exchange for Houston in exchange for James Harden, seemingly assembling one of the most formidable stars in N.B.A. history.
However, injuries kept the three stars from being on the court for long. They played just 16 games in total and posted an impressive performance of 13-3. The playoffs in 2021 saw the Nets were defeated during the 2nd round against the Milwaukee Bucks, the eventual champions.
In the last season, the Nets were optimistic that they could be able to live up to their high expectations. Irving’s refusal to be vaccinations against Covid-19 meant Irving was not able to participate at home until the end of the season due to the New York City rule that was later removed. An unhappy Harden requested the Nets for a trade and the Nets transferred him to Division rival Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons. Again, Durant, as well as the other players on the team suffered injuries, forcing Nash to force rookies into unanticipated roles.
The Nets were at their lowest in the playoffs, and they were eliminated early by the Boston Celtics, an embarrassing conclusion for a team who appeared to be on paper one of the best team of this decade.
Durant’s request for a trade was a surprise that stunned many league watchers. One reason is that the Nets were expected to begin training camp with an impressive team that included Simmons who was a three-time All-Star and Irving who chose to enter the last term of his contract. Durant’s stature hasn’t had a trade request as big as this when there are only four years left of his agreement.
Durant’s worth as a trader, in spite of his record, is unclear due to how scarce his request is and also due to Durant himself. For three seasons playing for the Nets, Durant played in 90 regular season games out of the possible 236 due to injuries. Durant will soon be entering his 16th season, which is a time that sees the majority of players already at a rapid decline. However, whenever Durant has been on the field in his games, he’s looked the same as he has always the same look: a talent of the generation.
Durant’s talents make him a tempting chance for teams looking to climb over the top. Not the most important thing is that the moment a team makes a trade for Durant, he could not be a good fit to remain.