Ex-NBA forward says Suns ‘quit’ on Kevin Durant once they tried to ‘secretly move him’

The Phoenix Suns overcame a 19-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, and they couldn’t have done it without the help of star forward Kevin Durant. Durant dropped a team-high 34 points, with 19 of those coming across the final 12 minutes of action.

Before the Suns completed their roaring comeback on Tuesday, one user made a post on X ripping Durant and accusing him of quitting on the team after he was in trade rumors ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline.

But former NBA forward Wilson Chandler clapped back and acknowledged that the Suns won the game. He also argued that the Suns quit on Durant once they tried to secretly move him.

One team Durant was heavily linked to ahead of the trade deadline was the Golden State Warriors. Durant spent three seasons playing for the Warriors franchise earlier on in his career and helped Golden State capture back-to-back NBA titles in 2017 and 2018.

But the veteran didn’t want to be traded back to the Warriors, and he ultimately did remain with Phoenix beyond the deadline. Now, roughly a month later, it’s worth wondering whether he would’ve been better off with a change of scenery.

The Suns still have plenty of work to do in the standings if they want to even make the play-in tournament. Phoenix owns the No. 11 seed in the West and sits three games back of the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 10 spot.

Conversely, the Warriors sit as the No. 6 seed in the conference and have been playing as well as any team in the West since acquiring star forward Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. In games where Butler has been on the floor, the Warriors have gone 9-1.

Hopefully, the Suns will still qualify for the playoffs, but it won’t be easy for the team given the hole it’s going to have to dig itself out of. Durant and company will look to get it done.