It came out this week that Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets met with the team’s owner and basically told his employer that he will only play this season if head coach Steve Nash is gone.
Yes, another case of the spoiled NBA athlete. Let me point out a few facts before you ask yourself if Kevin Durant will ever be happy where he plays basketball. He was not happy at Oklahoma City because they could not beat Golden State. That led to him signing with Golden State as a free agent. Even with a couple of NBA titles, he left Golden state in an unhappy state of mind. Durant proceeded to sign with Brooklyn and now tells us that he is not happy with how things are going with the Nets.
Kevin Durant
I found an old quote from Durant regarding Nash. He spoke of how Nash has insight for the game and is a communicator who will help him develop as a player. He went on to say that ‘Every time I’m in the gym with him, I am like a sponge..”
Now Durant says that he does not like the direction of the team. Has he put any thought to the fact that Nash only had Durant and Kyrie Irving play in just 17 games together this season and only 27 the year before that? The fact that both are rarely on the court together is not Nash’s fault.
Durant is demanding to be traded. He has four years left on his Nets’ contract and has given the franchise little. Thus far, Brooklyn has yet to find a trade partner. Perhaps there is not a huge market for a 34 old often injured player who never appears to be happy.
Hornets Talk
It has been awhile since I have spoken about the Charlotte Hornets. It was well known this summer that the Hornets needed a defensive big man to protect the rim.
The Hornets chose to address their biggest weakness through the draft, selecting Mark Williams out of Duke with the 15th overall pick.
He has everything you’d want out of a defensive prospect. Williams is a seven-footer who was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and was one of four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
This was a really good pick for the Hornets in the middle of the first round, as Williams should be the franchise’s answer at center for the next decade.
