Reporter Feng Zihan
After the NBA free market door just opened, Nets core Durant dropped a blockbuster - officially submitted a trade application to the team. And his favorite team will be the Suns and the Heat , two powerful teams that ranked first in the division last season.
Durant's decision instantly turned the league into chaos. More than half of the teams in the league are targeting this superstar, and his final destination will even change the landscape of the NBA.
The fate between Brooklyn and Durant may be over. It seems that Durant doesn't care about the scolding outside. What he wants may be a sense of recognition.
All that's left is "I loved you"
Durant reached a four-year, $194 million early contract extension with the Nets last summer. Now, this early contract extension has not even taken effect. With Durant still having four seasons left on his contract, his trade value is rising.
Blazers star Lillard took the lead in starting the "robbing" war. He posted photos of himself and Durant on social media twice, and the latter's jersey was changed to that of the Trail Blazers; Hornets star LaMelo Ball also posted photos of himself and Durant during the game. ; 76ers core Embiid even directly suggested that the team quickly launch an offensive...
"Every team in the league held at least one meeting to discuss how to make a bid for Durant's trade." ESPN reporter Zach Lowe said.
The Nets just finished and Irving . Before they could take a breath, they fell into another quagmire again. Obviously, the team was unprepared for Durant's decision.
Many people believe that the collapse of talks between Irving and the Nets was the trigger for Durant's intention to retire. Since Irving chose to exercise his player option and return to the Nets, neither Irving nor Durant had any communication with the management.
Today, Durant only has a mild "love" for the Nets.
In 2019, Durant, who was still suffering from injuries, left the Warriors and joined the Nets. The Nets also gave him enough trust and respect and waited silently for a year. In the following season, Durant and Irving played side by side and led the Nets to a good record. Then Harden, his brother from the Thunder era, joined, making it even more powerful. Unfortunately, they unfortunately lost to the Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals tiebreaker.
Last season, after Irving refused to take the vaccine and Harden left, Durant began to become more and more tired - both physically and mentally. Data shows that Durant averaged 37.2 minutes per game in the regular season and scored 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists; in the playoffs , he averaged 44.0 minutes per game and scored 26.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Judging from the data, he is indeed trying his best to make the team go further, but his endless physical exhaustion also consumes his last love for the team.
Counting it all, it has been three years since Irving, Durant and Harden joined the Nets one after another. The embarrassing thing is that they only played 58 games together during this period. The cooperation rate was low, the record was poor, and the Nets gradually lost confidence. The management was no longer willing to accommodate Durant and Irving, and in the end, they were left with nothing but feathers.
If Durant's toes hadn't touched the three-point line against the Bucks, maybe the Big Three would still be together now. Unfortunately, there is no if. Join
if you can't beat it?
Looking back at Durant's trading history, "join if you can't beat him" has become the reason why many people criticized him.
In 2016, Durant left his old club after five hours of consultation with the Thunder and joined the Warriors, who had defeated him in the Western Conference Finals. Although he suffered from infamy, he did win two championships in three years and two FMVP honors.
Even Durant's superb performance in the 2017 Finals caused public opinion to reverse for a time, and people accused the Thunder of burying talents. At that time, Durant, who was unparalleled in the limelight, felt a sense of accomplishment in the Warriors.However, when he was compared with James , the first choice in the fans' minds was the latter, so Durant, who is sensitive by nature, collapsed a little.
He no longer runs tactics, and always thinks of using his own stick to solve problems. Perhaps Durant believes that this can prove his strength as the league's number one.
However, teammate Green quit, and there was a gap between the two, leaving behind the phrase "Green's formula": "Before you came, we had already won the championship."
From this moment on, Durant He had a problem with the Warriors. Even if the team suspended Green and Curry asked Green to apologize, it would not be able to restore his injured heart. We all know what happened next. Durant left the game with a serious Achilles tendon injury in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals against the Raptors. He was subsequently diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon, which became his swan song with the Warriors.
Leaving the Warriors and joining the Nets was Durant's decision to prove his leadership status. But in his three years with the Nets, he made no achievements due to various reasons. Even the management, which had been so obedient to them before, now "no longer serves" them, which hit Durant again, so he wanted to leave again. As soon as the
news came out, the " New York Post " directly criticized Durant on the front page. They printed the title in huge red letters: "This weak guy has no ambition."
At present, we still don't know who this All-Star player will end up with, but when Durant called out the Suns and Heat, When he joined the team, he seemed to have recreated the scene when he joined the Warriors, and at the same time, he did not consider his good brother Irving.
The Importance of Identity
Durant has had a hard time since the Warriors won the championship. ESPN reporter Wojnarowski revealed on a TV show that Durant wanted to leave because he was stimulated by the Warriors' championship this year, which made him very frustrated and thought of leaving.
Even when fighting with Warriors fans on the Internet, he said: "I have been dead since July 4, 2016!" That day was the date Durant joined the Warriors.
There is no doubt that from the moment he chose to "surrender to the enemy", he lost Lei Lei who regarded him as a family member. From then on, any disturbance would disturb that sensitive heart. Perhaps only by gaining recognition from others can he be truly satisfied.
Durant's unfortunate childhood shaped his character. He has lacked his father's love since he was a child. His beloved aunt died of breast cancer when he was a child. His mentor Craig was shot and killed when he was 35 years old. Even Durant's fiancée whom he met in high school canceled their relationship when he was 25 years old. engagement.
On the court, he is the unsolvable "god of death", but off the court, he is alone, and only basketball can bring him spiritual comfort.
After leaving the Warriors, Durant chose the Nets, largely because this team gave him enough recognition.
In order to allow Irving and Durant, who were "unilaterally airborne", to sign smoothly, the Nets gave a four-year, $40 million contract and a starting guarantee to their good friend DeAndre Jordan. Not only that, the coach at the time, Atkins, wanted to correct the budding team, but eventually lost Duou's trust and was dismissed.
When the two wanted Harden, the Nets management used the money of 4 players + 3 first rounds + 4 first round swaps to reach a deal; when Irving refused to play, the Nets allowed him to be absent for three days and two without any reason, allowing him to Serving as a "part-time player"...
This was extremely comfortable for Durant, so he sincerely devoted himself to the Nets. When you can play, you play hard. When you get injured, you turn into "Manager Du" and personally recruit those veterans.
However, the Nets gradually realized that it was not appropriate to delegate too much power. Therefore, when Harden left the team, the management did not block it too much; they rejected Irving's request for a long-term contract and even fired Durant, who had a good personal relationship with him. TA harrington . In addition, the "Green Formula" that year also completed a closed loop this season.
Many factors came together and Durant collapsed again.
Although Green mentioned a few days ago that Durant joined the Warriors, it still brought them a great improvement. They can defeat the Rockets in the Western Conference, but without Durant, they cannot defeat the led by James in the Finals. Knight .
But this is no longer important. Now, the "blackened" Durant has lost his sense of identity in the Nets, so he dug through the bottom of the boat with his own hands, turned around and walked into the darkness.
