Kevin Durant may be the type of player who really relishes being “the guy,” with his ball-dominant style, and approach to the game, but he apparently did not want to do that playing for New York’s other team.
Before the Nets were in the city, the Knicks were the ticket. Players wanted to suit up and play in the iconic Madison Square Garden, and organizationally, the team had some stability. More recently, though, ownership woes have really hurt their ability to both develop and recruit players, while the Nets, under general manager Sean Marks, have established a strong culture. And that played a big role in them landing Kyrie Irving and Durant.
And while the rumors linking to Durant to the Knicks were swirling hard for quite some time, they apparently didn’t carry all that much truth. It sure looks like Durant didn’t even give much thought into joining the Knicks, in comments he made speaking with JJ Redick on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast.
“I didn’t want to be the savior of the Knicks or NY,” Durant said. “I didn’t care about being the king of NY. That never really moved me. I didn’t care about being on Broadway. I just wanted to play ball and go to the crib and chill.”
Well, that ends that debate. All the links of Durant to New York were for the other organization — the one that resides in Brooklyn, that currently employs him.
