NBA

'We all were hurting' – Steve Nash addresses Kevin Durant's offseason ultimatum

By Sports Desk September 27, 2022

Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash said there are no lingering ill effects from Kevin Durant’s trade request or his demand that Nash be fired this summer. 

Nash told reporters Tuesday that he met with Durant last month to "move forward" and "clear the air".   

"We're fine," Nash said after the Nets' first practice of the season. "We're good. Ever since we talked, it's been like nothing's changed. I have a long history with Kevin. 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. 

"We all were hurting, seething, to go through what we went through last year, not being able to overcome all that adversity. 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, and also keep perspective. We went through a ton of stuff."

Durant shook the NBA this offseason when he demanded to be traded, citing the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat as his preferred destinations.  

When it became clear that an ideal trade was not imminent, Durant met with Nets owner Joe Tsai and reportedly said he was willing to remain in Brooklyn if Nash and general manager Sean Marks were replaced.  

Nash pushed back Tuesday that Durant ever demanded a coaching change.  

"I never thought that was 100 percent," Nash said. "There was a lot of things. It's not black and white like that, so there was a lot of factors. A lot of things behind the scenes.

"A lot of things reported are not accurate. A lot of things that are reported are not 100 percent accurate. So you get fragmented bits of truth. You get things that are flat out not true. It happens... so I never really get caught up in all that stuff. 

"I'm going to hear it from Kevin when the time is right. I'm going to talk to Sean, I'm going to talk to all the parties involved. So you just work through it step by step. You don't overreact. We stay calm and work on communication and facts and here we are."

One of the central challenges for Nash this season will be to keep his team focused on the court despite the seemingly never-ending storm of storylines surrounding the Nets.  

"I think we're in a really good position to start the season," Nash said. "And regardless of the way everyone wants to talk about drama all the time, we've been through this. I played in the league for 17, 18 years… It does not impact me the way maybe it impacts people on the street or in the media, so it was never really as a big a deal to me. 

"I always thought we'd have our moment, we'd discuss it and we would choose a course and we're fortunate to all be in the gym working together again and excited. I think the energy's been outstanding."

Related items

  • Mavs coach Kidd: Doncic is 'not a robot' Mavs coach Kidd: Doncic is 'not a robot'

    Jason Kidd reminded the media that Luka Doncic is "not a robot" after the Dallas Mavericks star turned in a peculiar display against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

    Doncic delivered his best performance of the playoffs on Wednesday, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 104-92 victory.

    The Mavericks are now just one win away from the Western Conference finals.

    But what was different about Doncic's night was the fact he rarely remonstrated with the officials, having previously expanded a lot of energy doing just that in Game 4 of the series.

    "He's human; he's not a robot," Kidd said. 

    "Sometimes we just pencil in that he's going to put in 30, 10 and 10. You know the playoffs are hard mentally and physically.

    "Before the game, understand you are not going to get any calls on the road. You got to understand you got to play through it."

    For Doncic, it was a case of just focusing on what he could control.

    "Just focus on basketball," Doncic said. "Remember the thing I love, the thing I love to do. Just play basketball.

    "I talked to them [the officials] normally, without complaining.

    "I think it was the whole game, nothing. So I just go out there and hoop. Have fun, have fun. It was the old Luka, a smile on my face."

    Doncic's teammate Derrick Jones Jr suggested the Slovenian's sharpness in the warm-up told him all he needed to know about what was to come.

    "I was just sitting back saying, 'It's going to be a long day for them,'" Jones said. 

    "Once he gets his rhythm and he's got it going, you can't stop him."

    Kyrie Irving believes Doncic can take lessons from his Game 5 performance.

    "I think he can learn from this tonight as well as all of us and just continue to affirm to himself that when he is focused on just his game and he's focused on doing the right things, then we flourish as a team," he said.

    "I'm not going to sit up here and complain about him. I'm not going to do that.

    "I've got to give my brother a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it is warranted to get on the guys that are refereeing the game, but I think he found a healthy balance tonight where he was just really focused on getting us going offensively and making the right plays and making sure that we kept our foot on the gas pedal."

  • Return to Eastern Conference finals a sign of Boston's character, claims Tatum Return to Eastern Conference finals a sign of Boston's character, claims Tatum

    Jayson Tatum believes the Boston Celtics' return to the Eastern Conference finals shows the character of the team.

    Boston beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 on Wednesday to book their place in the Conference finals for a third straight season.

    It is the sixth time in the past eight years that the Celtics have reached the finals.

    "It just shows the character of the team, the organisation," said Tatum, who led Boston with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

    "People might think that it's a given that we're supposed to be here, but I give a lot of credit to everyone in the front office, the coaching staff, the trainers, the guys that hand out the equipment, the ball boys, the cooks, the chefs, the security team. We're all in this together. I do, I mean that.

    "Everybody has an effect on each other, and we all impact each other to help winning and build this culture that we have.

    "Everybody should be proud of themselves. Obviously, it's not the end all, be all. We want to win a championship, but we're doing something right."

    Coach Joe Mazzulla lauded the mentality and attitude of his team.

    "Close-out games are tough. It's a level of stress, anxiety, desperation; it takes what it takes," he said. "You've got to play 48 [minutes] hopefully, maybe more at times.

    "And at the end of the day, you just got to keep going, continue to chip away at the things you can control."

    The Celtics will face either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers for a place in the Championship game.

  • NBA: Celtics advance to third straight Eastern Conference finals, Mavs take 3-2 lead NBA: Celtics advance to third straight Eastern Conference finals, Mavs take 3-2 lead

    Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and five other players scored in double figures as the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight season with a 113-98 victory over the depleted Cleveland Cavaliers.

    Al Horford added 22 points, 15 rebounds and six of Boston’s 19 3-pointers to notch their third consecutive win of the series in Game 5.

    Derrick White had 18 points with four 3s and Jrue Holiday scored 13 for the Celtics, who will next face either Indiana or the Knicks, with New York currently leading that series 3-2.

    Evan Mobley scored a playoff career-high 33 points and Marcus Morris Sr. added 25 with five 3s for the Cavaliers, who played without All-Star Donovan Mitchell (calf), center Jarrett Allen (rib) and key reserve Caris LeVert (knee).

    Cleveland pulled within 88-85 early in the fourth on Mobley’s dunk, but Boston took control with a 13-2 run that was capped by Tatum’s 3.

     

    Doncic helps Mavericks to 3-2 lead

    Luka Dončić had a 31-point triple double and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

    Doncic shot 12 of 22 from the field and had 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his sixth career playoff triple-double. He averaged 22 points on 39 percent shooting through the first four games of the series.

    Derrick Jones Jr. added a playoff career-high 19 points and P.J. Washington had 10 points and 10 boards for Dallas, which shot 52.6 percent from the floor and had a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

    The Mavericks can advance to the West finals with a win on Saturday at home.

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points for the top-seeded Thunder, but no teammate had more than 13 points.

    Dallas extended to an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City cut the deficit to 90-83 on Chet Holmgren’s dunk with 5:17 remaining. But Washington hit a 3 and then dunked to put the Mavs up by 10 and the Thunder never got closer than nine thereafter.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.