NEW YORK, Sept 11 — Kevin Durant understands the business side of the NBA and the attachment of fans to their teams, but that doesn’t mean he likes it.
“Some days I hate the circus of the NBA,” Durant told The Wall Street Journal for an article published yesterday.
“Some days I hate that the players let the NBA business, the fame that comes with the business, alter their minds about the game. Sometimes I don’t like being around the executives and politics that come with it. I hate that.”
Durant signed a four-year, US$164 million (RM683.3 million) contract with the Brooklyn Nets after his former team, the Golden State Warriors, lost the NBA Finals to the Toronto Raptors. Durant ruptured his right Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the series and will be out most, if not all, of the upcoming season.
In the interview, it was apparent Durant, who turns 31 later this month, was a player in need of a fresh start.
He said he hasn’t been back to the Bay Area since the NBA Finals — adding, “It didn’t feel as great as it could have been” — and had others pack up his home for the move East. He also didn’t spare words when it came to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the franchise he spent nine seasons with and won a league MVP award with before signing with the Warriors in 2015.
He hasn’t forgotten fans burning his jerseys and calling him “all types of crazy names” after his decision, or the way he was greeted upon his return with the Warriors.
“Such a venomous toxic feeling when I walked into that arena,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “And just the organization, the trainers and equipment managers, those dudes is pissed off at me? Ain’t talking to me? I’m like, ‘Yo, this is where we going with this? Because I left a team and went to play with another team?’
“I’ll never be attached to that city again because of that. I eventually wanted to come back to that city and be part of that community and organization, but I don’t trust nobody there.” — Reuters
