NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 25: Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets warms up before Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center on April 25, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
Multiple league sources told Yahoo Sports the topic of player movement wasn’t broached among NBA team owners, even though it’s sure to be discussed in some form when the National Basketball Players Association and team owners reconvene for the next round of collective bargaining. Whether or not Durant’s desire to leave is appropriate given the amount of agency he’s had in the Nets organization is immaterial. The Nets took on Kyrie Irving and all his complexities because of Durant, hired Steve Nash as head coach with Durant’s blessing and certainly have given his voice a lot of weight.
The landscape is so layered and no longer linear. Is a player’s first responsibility to himself, or his franchise? Himself, or the NBA at large? Those are all differing agendas that seemingly conflict as opposed to running on the same track. It was easier for players in previous generations to stay planted, to grow roots where they were drafted. Free agency wasn’t as viable an option, the 24-hour news cycle wasn’t blaring and evaluating their careers in real time as often as it does now. And the money, while great for the time, wasn’t astronomical.
That’s a model for the next generation of stars to aspire to replicate. For all of Durant’s wondrous gifts and even his valid desire to leave what looks to be an unstable organization, there are not teams lining up with their best offer to snag him.