Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant opened up about how rumors and lies have been prevalent in his NBA career, including right now during his time with the Suns.
“It’s hard not to hear what they got to say about you,” Durant told Yahoo! Sports. “Because especially when you could just make up lies and everybody gonna believe you.”
He continued.
“So for somebody to say, ‘Phoenix wants to get out of the K.D. (business),’ I’m sitting here like, where is this coming from?” Durant said. “It bothers me that people lie like that and that the audience eats up the headline. I get sad when people buy into lies and just make up s—.
“It’s bigger than ball at that point for me. I can’t control that. I feel for people. It’s a bad practice to have when you just believe anything, for one. Just believe what you see on TV. And then it’s another bad habit when you’re just lying.”
Durant shared with Yahoo! Sports that he’s been in contact with not just Phoenix’s front office, but with the coaching staff and players as well. That seemingly indicates that the Suns are on good terms with the superstar, regardless of any chatter about Phoenix theoretically moving on from him.
Since leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, Durant has had a target on his back, especially since he’s bounced around to other teams.
Durant won two titles in Golden State, but he eventually left the Warriors to team up with Kyrie Irving – and eventually James Harden – with the Brooklyn Nets. Things did not go as planned in Brooklyn, leading to the trio breaking up and Durant landing with the Suns during the 2022-23 season.
He led Phoenix to the playoffs in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, but Phoenix was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves this past season.
Despite the chatter around him, Durant is just trying to focus on playing quality basketball night in and night out.
“Don’t let that blind you from what I’m doing on the basketball court, because that could irritate you as a fan, ‘Damn, this (guy) leaving again?’” he said.
“Even if I do leave, am I playing good basketball, though? Like, what matters? Does it matter that I got a jersey on, or the basketball I’m playing? I want better for the fans. I want them to enjoy the experience. But when you thinking about narratives and lies like that…”
This offseason, Durant is playing with Team USA in the 2024 Olympics and is hoping to capture a gold medal.
When it comes to his NBA future, though, it’s clear that a title is still extremely important to him.
“Of course, I want to win the championship. Of course,” Durant said. “I want to play well every game, like I don’t even have to talk about that type of stuff. But yeah, so it’s fulfilling getting up to play every day and whatever happens on top of that, it’s cool.”
A two-time NBA Finals MVP in Golden State, Durant has remained one of the game’s best players even though he dealt with a ruptured Achilles that cost him the entire 2019-20 season.
The former league MVP finished the 2023-24 season averaging 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for the Suns while shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Hopefully, Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal can find a way to bring more playoff success to the Suns in the 2024-25 season after flaming out this past season.
