The reality is Kevin Durant probably chose the Brooklyn Nets to play alongside Kyrie Irving, a good friend with whom he could build a legitimate NBA Finals contender in the Eastern Conference.
But that’s not the explanation Durant gave Nets general manager Sean Marks.
Marks, who recently revealed he learned of Durant’s decision via Instagram, told WFAN’s Evan Roberts on Tuesday the 10-time All-Star expressed love for Brooklyn’s system and style of play.
One could argue Durant took a huge risk by leaving the Warriors to join the Nets this offseason, as Golden State has made five straight NBA Finals appearances whereas Brooklyn is just a young team on the rise. But Durant would cement his legacy by leading the Nets to championship glory, and the organization understandably is ecstatic about its potential after landing KD and Irving this summer.
“What we knew was we were either getting a teleconference call with Kevin that night or we were going to potentially get a meeting,” Marks said of not knowing Durant was Brooklyn-bound until the 30-year-old forward revealed his intentions on social media. “We’d seen some media reports earlier in the day that Kevin had crossed several teams off his list and we were still one of them (being considered). And those reports were there for everybody to read. And when Kevin posted it on The Boardroom Instagram site, that was news to all of us in the office.”
The Nets officially landed Durant in a sign-and-trade with the Warriors, with Brooklyn sending All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell to Golden State as part of the swap. Brooklyn will be looking to build on surprisingly successful 2018-19 campaign in which it went 42-40 en route to the No. 6 seed in the East, although it’s unclear at this point whether Durant will play this season after rupturing his Achilles during the NBA Finals.
