After a rollercoaster ride of an offseason, Nets coach Steve Nash believes a state of normalcy has been restored in Brooklyn, especially with his relationship with star forward Kevin Durant.
On June 30, Durant requested a trade from Brooklyn, a year after signing a four-year contract extension with the franchise. But late last month, the two-time NBA champion rescinded his request and decided to move forward after holding a meeting with Nash, Joe Tsai, Clara Wu Tsai and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles.
That meeting has Nash in a place where he believes the team is “fine” heading into a new season.
“We’re good,” Nash said, per ESPN. “It’s been like nothing’s changed. I have a long history with Kevin [Durant]. I love the guy. Families have issues. We had a moment and it’s behind us. That’s what happens. It’s a common situation in the league.”
Nash’s comments about “family issues” align with Durant’s recent comment on why he initially asked for a trade request from the Nets. As Brooklyn held its media day Monday ahead of the upcoming NBA season, Durant revealed he requested the trade because of the “uncertainty around last year’s team” that included himself, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
“I committed to this organization [Nets] for four years last summer with the idea that we were gonna be playing with that group,” Durant said.
While Harden was traded to the 76ers in a deal for three-time All-Star Ben Simmons, Nash said the team was “hurting” last year and was not able to “overcome” all the adversity. However, with Durant, Irving and major strides from Simmons during the offseason, things appear to be in order.
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“Sometimes you lose perspective because you expect to win, but the reality is we were able to talk and discuss what we can improve on from last year,” Nash said. “And also keep perspective. We went through a ton of stuff.”
While Nash chose not to reveal what he said to Durant during the August meeting, the former eight-time All-Star said he was never worried about his star’s future of not being in Brooklyn or the rumors surfacing that Durant wanted him fired as coach.
“Knowing Kevin as long as I have, it didn't really bother me the way maybe everyone would think,” Nash said. “That’s a part of being a competitor. I wasn't overly surprised, and I wasn't even overly concerned. This is something that I thought we would address in time and we did.
“Sometimes when things like that happen, the outside world makes a big deal of it, from the inside we take it as an opportunity for growth.”
The Nets begin preseason action on Oct. 3 against Philadelphia and will open the regular season on Oct. 19 against the Pelicans.
