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The saga surrounding the next destination of Nets star Kevin Durant came to an anticlimactic conclusion Tuesday, when the team announced it will keep the 12-time all-star in Brooklyn.
General manager Sean Marks announced the news in a statement saying that Durant and the Nets “have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focused on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: to build an enduring franchise to bring home a championship in Brooklyn.” The ad features the Nets logo along with that of Boardroom, the media company Durant created with manager Rich Kleiman.
Durant was reportedly being pursued by the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and most recently the Memphis Grizzlies. His decision to stay with Brooklyn comes two weeks after Durant reiterated his request to be traded and told Nets owner Joe Tsai to choose between him and Marks and coach Steve Nash, according to the ‘Athletic.
Tsai responded with a tweet showing her support for the front office and coaching staff.
Our reception and our technical staff have my support. We make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.
— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022
A two-time champion and two-time Finals MVP, Durant will continue a tenure in Brooklyn that has been defined by drama.
Durant, who left Golden State to team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn shortly after tearing his Achilles during the 2019 Finals, tried to hang up the company just three years later. Hours before the NBA’s free agency period opened on June 30 and just two weeks after the Warriors won their first title since his departure, Durant formally requested a trade after a grueling 2021-22 season that ended with a humiliating first-round sweep by the Celtics.
Durant’s tenure in Brooklyn has unfolded in a blur, in part because it was so aligned with the coronavirus pandemic. The four-time scoring champion sat out the 2019-20 season while recovering from an Achilles injury, opting not to rush back into the organized bubble in Orlando. During the condensed 2020-21 season, Durant was limited to 35 games due to injuries and coronavirus protocol absences before turning in a sensational postseason run that ended with a second-round loss to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.
Last season, Durant missed time again with an injury that limited him to 55 games, then turned in one of the most forgettable postseason performances of his career against the Celtics.
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Along the way, the Nets made a blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets for James Harden in January 2021, then reversed course by trading the star guard to the Philadelphia 76ers last February.
A key factor in Brooklyn’s instability has been Irving, who has missed significant time over the past three seasons with injuries, personal absences and eligibility issues related to his refusal to get a coronavirus vaccine. While Durant was careful to always defend Irving in public, it was clear the Nets needed major changes after their disappointing performance against the Celtics. In a sign of how quickly Brooklyn fell apart, Durant’s trade request came less than a year after he signed a four-year, $198 million extension.
At first, Durant seemed to see the Nets as an opportunity to once again be the face of his own franchise, to expand his business and media portfolio in a major market and to build a roster full of his friends. Brooklyn was committed to cultivating a player-friendly culture, even deferring to its stars on matters such as playing time and injury management.
That philosophical approach backfired in the 2021-22 season, as Irving’s vaccination saga overshadowed the Nets’ season, contributed to Harden’s departure, and placed a heavy burden on Durant. Organizational inexperience was at the root of many of Brooklyn’s shortcomings: Tsai only assumed full ownership of the franchise in 2019, Marks was a relatively new executive with no prior experience managing A-list superstars and Steve Nash he was a first-time coach when he was hired in 2020.
Time and time again after landing Durant and Irving, the Nets seemed to have bitten off more than they could chew. Despite having the second-highest payroll in the NBA last season, behind only Golden State, Brooklyn was the only one of the 16 playoff teams not to win a single game in the postseason.
Still, Durant has played at an MVP level when healthy throughout his tenure with the Nets, averaging 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game last season. Still, with just one playoff series win during his time in Brooklyn, the undisputed highlight of Durant’s post-Achilles period was his central role on the medal-winning team USA Basketball gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Otherwise, he was forced to watch arch-rivals LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry win championships while the Nets fell short of expectations.
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