Stephen A's Take: Kevin Durant says no to a Golden State reunion - podcast episode cover

Stephen A's Take: Kevin Durant says no to a Golden State reunion

Feb 06, 20254 min
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Episode description

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

I wanted to touch on news emanating out of Phoenix, Arizona, involving the one and only Kevin Durant starred for the Phoenix Suns. Rumors were swirling over the last couple of days that Kevin Durant would possibly be on the trading block because the Phoenix Suns, unable to get Bradley Beal to waive his no trade clause, would have no choice but to trade Kevin Durant in order to get some additional compensation to the franchise. The Golden State Warriors was

a team that was interested to Miami Heat. You've heard about the Houston Rockets and others. Well, Kevin Durant has spoken, so folks could stop speaking for him, and Kevin Durant stated emphatically that he has absolutely, positively no interest in returning to the Golden State Warriors, a franchise that he helped that he helped to back to back championships after

departing from Oklahoma City. If you remember, Kevin Durant twenty seventeen to twenty eighteen went back to back NBA titles with Steph Curry, with Klay Thompson, with Draymond Green and others. I contend he would have repeated with ease had he not torn his achilles, and ultimately Klay Thompson didn't get hurt in that close out Game six. I don't think there's any chance in hell that the Toronto Raptors, led by Kawhi Leonnett, would have won more than a game.

I think it would have been pushing it to assume they would have won a game. I think they could have been swept and at the very most they would have lost in five games to the Golden State Warriors, and the Golden State Warriors would have repeated, but Kevin Durant towards achilles, was out for the next year or so. Klay Thompson his his career was ravaged for a couple of years. Golden State lost to the Toronto Raptors and

a new ever had begun thereafter. Kevin Durant is a twenty seven point per game scorer, one of the elite scorers this game has ever seen. I don't blame Matti Ishburgh, the owner for the Phoenix Suns, not wanting to let go of Kevin Durant. It's bad news for Jimmy Butler of the Miami heat by the way, because he desperately wants to go to Phoenix. The Phoenix cinnser of it're trying to work out of trade to get him, and the reason he wants to go to Phoenix is because

he wants to play with Kevin Durant. He doesn't want to go there in place of Kevin Durant. So with the Phoenix Suns unwilling to move Kevin Durant, it appears with Kevin Durant not wanting to go to Golden State, with Phoenix stating that it has no interest in moving him, with Bradley Beer refusing to waive his no trade clause because only him and Lebron James are only two NBA players with a trade within no trade clause in their contract. In this moment in time, Phoenix is what they are.

Their game above five hundred. They're hovering around being a five hundred team. They've underachieved, There's no doubt about that. And Kevin Durant, despite his obvious, unquestionable greatness, is a man that has not won a title since departing from Steph Curry and doesn't appear as if he will win a title without Steph Curry so you had a lot of people hoping that he would end up going back to Golden State, But according to his words, that's not

something that's about to happen. Because you could trade for him, but why would you trade for somebody who's stating he doesn't want to be there. My position was I didn't want him to go back there because he departed from them of his own volition years ago. And if he says he doesn't want to be there with you, and he leaves Steph Curry to join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn,

why would you bring him back? But desperate times called for desperate measures, and with Steph Curry still looking spectacular, he needs help and he doesn't have enough of it. And as a result, the Golden State Warriors are just an average team with no real legitimate championship aspiration. So back to the drawing board as we approach the finality of the NBA's trading deadline, scheduled for Thursday afternoon,

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