The Phoenix Suns have underperformed this season despite featuring one of the NBA’s most talented trios in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. With high expectations entering the year, the results have fallen short of what Durant likely envisioned.
Recently, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) accused Durant of leaving the Golden State Warriors because his ego got in the way. The 15-time All-Star didn’t hold back in his response, pushing back against the perception that has followed him throughout his career.
“I’m the most egoless player you’ve ever seen,” Durant wrote. “Y’all just don’t know me well enough and let media corrupt your brains… shame on you.”
Durant’s comment reignites a recurring theme in his career: the disconnect between how he sees himself and how he believes he’s portrayed. Despite averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game this season, Durant continues to feel misrepresented by the media and misunderstood by fans.
Durant reflects on his Warriors exit
Much has been speculated about Durant’s decision to leave the Golden State Warriors in 2019 after winning two championships in three seasons. One widely cited reason is his heated sideline argument with Draymond Green. Green himself once asked Durant if that incident drove him out of the Bay Area.
“It wasn’t the argument, it was the way everybody acted like it didn’t happen,” Durant said in a previous interview. “Steve Kerr acted like it didn’t happen. Bob Myers tried to discipline [Draymond] and think that would put a mask over everything. I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group.”
Durant pointed to the example of The Last Dance documentary, referencing how the 1990s Chicago Bulls handled internal conflict more directly. “I remember watching The Last Dance, and when Scottie [Pippen] didn’t go into the game, the whole team in the locker room said, ‘Scottie, that was f****d up.’ We needed that. We needed to put it all on the table.”
Durant says Warriors lacked accountability in the wake of drama
In Durant’s eyes, the Warriors’ leadership failed to foster the kind of open communication that NBA championship teams require. “We just needed to throw all of that s* out on the table and say, ‘Yo, Dray, K, that was f**d up that we even had to go through that. Let’s just wipe our hands of that and go finish the task,'” Durant continued. “But I don’t think we did that. We tried to dance around it.”
“I just didn’t like the vibe. It made s*** weird to me,” he added. “I’d rather us be who we say we are—‘Family first. Communication is key.’ We didn’t show that. And that’s what rubbed me the wrong way more than anything.”