Kevin Durant has broken his silence on the blockbuster 76ers-Nets trade which resulted in James Harden leaving Brooklyn and Ben Simmons leaving Philadelphia.
Durant spoke on “NBA on TNT” on Thursday night ahead of him and LeBron James selecting their team picks for the NBA All-Star Game.
“I’m excited for our team, looking forward to finishing the season out with this new group and these new players. It‘s playoffs right around the corner, so we gotta fast track into getting used to each other,” Durant said. “But, I‘m excited. I think everybody got what they wanted.”
Charles Barkley then asked Durant if he saw any type of specialist to decompress during all the Nets drama surrounding Harden and Kyrie Irving. Durant didn‘t understand what “drama” Barkley was referring to.
“I love my brothers regardless,” Durant responded.
During the team picks show on Thursday night, Durant chose to have Rudy Gobert on his team over Harden. James couldn’t stop laughing during Durant's explanation.
Durant and Irving signed onto the Nets back in 2019, with Harden joining in Jan. 2021. This trio had high expectations in Brooklyn, but they ended up only playing a total of 16 games together. Part of this was due to Irving missing the 2021–22 season up until Jan. 5 because he is unvaccinated for COVID-19.
The new power trio will consist of Durant and Irving still, but with the addition of Ben Simmons. Simmons has also not played yet this season due to internal issues with the 76ers organization and mental health.
