Steve Nash and Sean Marks are not the only issues that Kevin Durant has with the Nets, which has precipitated him to call for a trade out of town or the firing of the team’s head coach and general manager.
The ongoing saga between Durant and the Nets apparently runs deeper with the 12-time NBA superstar being upset with coaches being let go, the pieces given up to build the team’s roster and having to be vaccinated in order to play, a source told the New York Post.
“The ultimatum he made is not what really caused the deterioration. It’s not the ultimatum itself,” the source close to Durant told the Post.
Durant was known to be close with former assistant coach Adam Harrington and it apparently did not sit well that he was not consulted about the decision. Marks comes into the picture as well since he was the one that hired Nash and was the one that executed trades that Durant felt cost the Nets “too many pieces.”
One of the most surprising revelations was that Durant felt that Tsai didn’t do enough to try and lobby then-mayor Bill de Blasio harder to allow unvaccinated players who lived outside the five boroughs to play in home games at Barclays Center. It wasn’t until the prospect of baseball’s New York Mets and Yankees being impacted that current mayor Eric Adams amended the city’s vaccination requirements.
“I would think there are so many things, it’s not one thing,” the source said. “I think KD wants to leave and it doesn’t matter what reasons he says.”
The Nets find themselves in a precarious spot as they try to navigate the waters of what to do with Durant before trying camp opens in the fall. An earlier report on Tuesday suggested that Durant is not a lock to report to camp if a deal is worked out, which would create an even bigger off-the-court issue for the Nets than Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status did last year.
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All signs have pointed to Irving returning to Brooklyn despite earlier thoughts that he may have wanted out. Irving’s agent and stepmother Shetallia Riley also shot down rumors that he hated Nash and Marks, but she wouldn’t say if Irving also wanted to see the pair relieved of their duties.
“I am not sure where this narrative is coming from but Kyrie does not hate Steve nor Sean. That’s not a part of his being nor how he represents himself in the world. He’s about peace, love and acceptance,” she told the New York Post Tuesday night.
