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Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant has made it known where he wants to play next.
The New York Knicks‘ move to pull out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes may not be just a business decision but a personal one.
That is what Stephen A. Smith claimed on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday, June 17, after Marc J. Spears’ report that the Knicks were not interested.
“KD wanted the New York Knicks,” Spears said on Monday’s “NBA Today” ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. “He wanted to go there. The Knicks have no interest in bringing him in.”
Smith said Knicks owner James Dolan is still salty about what happened during the 2019 free agency when Durant turned his back and joined Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
“When you take into account the history that involves Kevin Durant and how James Dolan was led to believe that KD and Kyrie [Irving] were on their way to the Garden and they elected to go to Brooklyn and then KD piggybacks off of that when asked about it in the months to follow and calls the Knicks corny and how they ain’t “cool” … That residue is where you hear no interest and you’re saying ‘Well, this can’t be just about basketball.’ This has to be about you feeling a bit salty if you’re James Dolan,” Smith said.
James Dolan Could Be Petty, Claims Stephen A. Smith
Before Spears, NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Sunday, June 15, that the Knicks would have been in Durant’s short list of preferred teams.
With the Knicks pulling out, their longtime rivals Miami Heat and the two Texas teams — San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets — remain on Durant’s list.
GettyExecutive chairman and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company and executive chairman of MSG Networks James L. Dolan attends a game between the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns.
“The problem is that this is James Dolan we’re talking about and we know how petty he could be and we know what KD and Kyrie was supposed to do or really KD was supposed to do and what ended up not happening and we know how salty the Knicks were about that even before [team president] Leon Rose arrived and because of that residue, you’re looking at the New York Knicks now and you’re saying ‘Are you really making the best business decisions especially when they just fired [Tom] Thibodeau. You don’t even have a coach in place.
Smith cited the string of rejections the Knicks received from their poaching bid.
“This type of nonsense is reminiscent of what used to happen before Leon Rose and Worldwide Wes arrived that’s what’s alarming right now and that’s where this KD comment fall into play,” he added.
Kevin Durant Clarifies ‘Knicks Aren’t Cool’ Statement
Durant spurning the Knicks made him a Garden villain. But he put more fuel to the fire when he said “The Knicks aren’t cool” shortly after joining the Nets.
Durant clarified the five-year-old statement, saying he might have embellished it.
“At that time, the Knicks weren’t cool, but they are cool brand,” Durant explained last year in a sit-down talks with his business manager, Rich Kleiman on “Boardroom.” “Like when the Knicks are on right now. They’re popping. They’re probably well last few years.”
But when he weighed his decision during the 2019 free agency, he saw a floundering Knicks team with no stability. The Nets, on the other hand, were on the rise after making the playoffs the previous season.
“I’m not looking at the cool brand outside of the game,” Durant said. “I was looking at the team. And the team was not cool to play for. The team was not cool to watch. It wasn’t a good team to watch. I may have embellished it a little bit.
“But yeah, of course, the Knicks brand [is cool]. Like New York is New York. Living in New York made me truly realize that it’s the greatest city in the world.”
Alder Almo is a basketball journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo
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