Kevin Durant Never Cared About Being ‘Savior Of The Knicks’ And ‘King Of New York’
All-Star forward Kevin Durant was one of the superstars who was heavily linked to the New York Knicks last summer. Before the 2019 free agency, multiple rumors were surfacing that Durant and Kyrie Irving would be joining forces on the Knicks. The two All-Stars did team up, but instead of choosing the Knicks, they decided to sign with the other team in New York — the Brooklyn Nets.
In a recent appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast, Durant talked about his decision to choose the Nets over the Knicks. Despite being presented with the opportunity to revive one of the most decorated franchises in the NBA, KD revealed that he’s never been interested in being the “savior of the Knicks” or being called the “king of New York.”
“I didn’t want to be the savior of the Knicks or New York,” Durant said, as quoted by Rob Goldberg of Bleacher Report. “I didn’t care about being the king of New York. 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. And that’s what Brooklyn embodied.”
While most superstars would want to be in the spotlight, Durant is the opposite. The two-time NBA champion said that he just wants to continue doing to the thing he loves the most and become the man who would lead the Nets back to prominence.
“There’s no show when you come to our games,” Durant said. “No Madison Square mecca, all of that s–t. We just gonna hoop and build something new in Brooklyn.”
Despite suffering an early exit in the 2020 Playoffs, the Nets have a realistic chance of accomplishing something big under the leadership of Durant and Irving. Though he missed his first year in Brooklyn due to injury, Durant is expected to return 100 percent healthy in the 2020-21 NBA season. Also, though the ongoing postseason isn’t yet over, there is speculation that the Nets are planning to add a third superstar to their roster this fall.
Meanwhile, after failing to acquire their top targets on the trade and free agency market last summer, it’s not surprising that the Knicks have once again finished the season as one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. However, they still haven’t given up their dream of adding a legitimate superstar to their roster. With Leon Rose serving as the president of basketball operations, the Knicks are expected to be more aggressive in building a competitive roster this fall. Some of their potential targets include Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
