Kevin Durant revealed he was responsible for preventing a reunion with the Golden State Warriors last season.
Durant spoke at the Game Plan Sports Business Summit last week about his final months with the Phoenix Suns, which culminated in a historic trade that saw him joining the Houston Rockets. According to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic, KD said the Suns informed teams of his availability “around February.”
“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said. “And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”
After finding out that the Suns and Rockets reached a verbal agreement on a deal for him while onstage at Fanatics Fest in June, Durant admitted he was “glad” to move on from a “crazy, crazy last couple weeks.”
The craziness of his time with the Suns extends beyond just a few weeks because KD confirmed rumors that the Warriors were close to pursuing him before the trade deadline, but he asked his agent and longtime business partner Rich Kleiman to squash any hopes of a return to Golden State.
“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” he said. “We were able to tell them kind of hold off on that.”
In his three seasons with the Warriors, Durant won two championships, and was named NBA Finals MVPs twice.
Back in February, Durant spoke on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis about vetoing a trade to the Warriors because he did not want to move at the time, and preferred to wait until the offseason to discuss a trade.
Even though he claimed to be the one who turned down the deal, KD does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, which left the door open for speculation regarding how the rumored deal fell through.
When the trade for Durant became official, it was the first seven-team deal in NBA history, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Aside from the Suns and Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Golden State Warriors were involved in a deal that included seven players, a first-round pick, 12 second-rounders, a second-round pick swap, and cash considerations.