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Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets came to a conclusion on Tuesday that they were best served sticking together, two months after Durant demanded a trade out of Brooklyn.
In a statement, Nets general manager Sean Marks said the two sides would “move forward” in their pursuit of bringing an NBA championship to Brooklyn.
Kevin Durant, then of the Golden State Warriors, right, talks with Charles Barkley after Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 8, 2018.
(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
But that doesn’t mean that everyone believes Durant will now finally be happy where he is.
“He seems like a miserable person, man,” NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said on Arizona Sports 98.7. “I call him Mr. Miserable, he’s never going to be happy. Everybody’s given him everything on a silver platter. He was the man in Oklahoma City, they loved him, he owned the entire state.
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“Then he bolts on them and goes to the (Golden State) Warriors and wins back-to-back championships, and he’s still not happy. Then he goes to Brooklyn, they give him everything he wants and he’s still miserable.”
Barkley, who has shared his thoughts on Durant’s legacy and his two championships in Golden State on multiple occasions, dove into the legacy conversation once again, saying that Durant needs to win another ring while being the best player on a championship team.
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The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant is shown during the first half of an NBA game against the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center in New York on Apr. 10, 2022.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“All the old guys, he gets mad when we say it — he piggybacked on the Warriors to win his first two championships,” Barkley said Thursday. “But if you go back and look at his career, as the best player and being the leader that all goes with that, he’s been an abject failure.
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“Every time he’s been the guy who has to be the leader and best player, he has not had success. That’s what us old guys think about him.”
Durant demanded a trade from the Nets at the end of June following a playoff sweep at the hand of the Boston Celtics. The trade demand came after a tumultuous year for the Nets, who traded James Harden for Ben Simmons at the trade deadline. Simmons would not appear in a single game for the Nets as he dealt with a back injury.
Charles Barkley with cigars on the seventh hole during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational – Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on July 28, 2022.
(Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images)
Point guard Kyrie Irving — Durant’s good friend — only appeared in 29 games during the 2021-2022 regular season due to New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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Durant was unhappy with the direction of the franchise following the season, reportedly demanding that Nets owner Joe Tsai fire Marks and head coach Steve Kerr or trade him.
With Durant, Irving and Simmons, the Nets — at least on paper — should be able to contend in a top-heavy Eastern Conference. Whether the three enigmatic stars are able to remain happy during the season will dictate Brooklyn’s level of success.
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