NBA coach who’s worked with Kevin Durant: ‘It’s like he is unhappy all the time’

Peter Dewey
3 Min Read
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant has been the subject of allegations related to a burner account on social media that called out some of his current teammates, even though nothing has been proven.

While the Rockets star dismissed a question about the burner account recently, it has certainly called into question his happiness in Houston.

According to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, one NBA assistant coach who has worked with Durant thinks that the veteran seems “unhappy” all the time, which can bring a “whole team down.”

“The thing about Kevin is that he is very good at his job, he is a very smart guy, he can look at an opponent and know almost immediately where he can attack,” the coach said. “But it’s like he is unhappy all the time. It does sort of bring the whole team down. I think you could see it at the end with (the [Golden State] Warriors in 2019) and it has spiraled with each team since then.

“The [Brooklyn] Nets, they were a miserable team when he was there. What happened with the [Phoenix] Suns was not really his fault but you could see, that was a group that did not like playing together. And now, even the Rockets, it’s a problem. Sometimes you want to tell him, he is so talented, he works so hard, maybe just be happy.”

Durant has been in several destinations in recent seasons, going from the Warriors to the Nets to the Suns before landing in Houston in a trade prior to the 2025-26 season.

Since leaving Golden State to sign with Brooklyn, Durant has not appeared in a conference finals, and he’s left multiple teams (Brooklyn and Phoenix) via trade. He was moved out of Brooklyn during the 2022-23 season, and then he was moved by the Suns after the team failed to make the playoffs last season.

There’s no doubt that Durant is one of the most talented players in NBA history, and that’s helped him win at the highest level. He’s a two-time NBA Finals MVP, but he has not found that same success since leaving Golden State.

The Rockets are currently the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, and they’re certainly hoping that they can make a deep playoff run this year.

Durant has been huge for Houston this season, averaging 25.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from 3.

Hopefully, the social media buzz around Durant dies down so the Rockets can focus on winning games down the stretch of the NBA’s regular season.

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Peter is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where he covered the MAAC and college basketball for three years. He has worked for NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering basketball, football and other major sports. Follow him on Twitter @peterdewey2.