Kevin Durant has been in the news again. Same with Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia. During a recent interview, a quote from Ishbia went viral: "I kind of just threw money at the problem... Bringing in super talented players like Kevin Durant doesn't necessarily lead to championships." Durant responded on Twitter, effectively calling Ishbia out for blaming him for the Suns’ lack of success.
However, I don’t think Ishbia meant to blame Durant for anything. I think he was simply admitting that his team-building approach didn’t work. You can’t just throw money at things and expect it to work out. More goes into team-building than that. Durant was simply the literal example of the issue. He himself was not the problem. The concept was.
Yet Ishbia’s quote still went viral, and Durant’s clap-back did, too. Now, it’s a whole national news story, seemingly spawned out of nothing.
Matt Ishbia wasn't trying to call out Kevin Durant
When Ishbia got to Phoenix, he wanted to win immediately. And that makes sense. When you get to a new place as an owner, you want to prove to the fanbase that you’re all about winning.
Ishbia certainly did that. He made some big changes to the Suns immediately. He landed Durant in a massive trade, and not long after that, the Suns made a big swing for Bradley Beal.
Obviously, it was the front office that made those moves, but Ishbia’s willingness to pay for the players made it happen. It’s no coincidence that the moves happened right when he took over as owner.
#blameKD even though KD stayed on top of his game at 36 and got u back this “culture” you love so much. Aye, Matthew acts like I got arrested for a DUI or sumn. Back to threads 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/oy6PZrBC2n
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) October 17, 2026
But the days of the super team are over. In today’s NBA, you can’t just throw random talented players together and expect it to work. That’s what the Suns did, and it failed miserably.
You need to put the right pieces together in terms of on-court talent. Synergy. Three-point shooting. Defense. High-end role players. Elite depth. Rebounding. That’s what it takes to win.
The Suns didn’t do that. Ishbia just decided to put three All-Stars together and figure out the rest willy-nilly. That’s what he was admitting didn’t work. He wasn’t calling out Durant. He was calling out himself.
Obviously, the way the quote was phrased on social media made it seem bad. It made it seem like he was blaming Durant. But in reality, I don’t think that was Ishbia’s intent.
Still, that’s what the whole world thinks. But maybe that’s not what Ishbia was trying to say. Maybe he was just trying to admit he was wrong.
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