The Phoenix Suns may have lost back-to-back games after ripping off seven straight victories, but there is no question they have turned a corner this season. Central to this has been Kevin Durant, who was recently named a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star game as well.
Durant has been incredible for the Suns this season, and has been the team's first-quarter and first-half MVP. At a time when Bradley Beal was missing through injury and Devin Booker was trying to balance being this group's point guard - a task he has accomplished with style - it was Durant who led the way through some dark winter losses.
Now with a game looming against his former employers in the Brooklyn Nets, Durant was outspoken on one topic ahead of his return to Barclays Center.
That was the question on whether or not Durant should receive a tribute video from the Nets for the time he spent there with Kyrie Irving and later James Harden. The Nets of course never won an NBA Championship - but if not for the oversized foot of Durant - could have gone all the way back in 2021.
Durant would play only 145 games total for the Nets, including 16 playoff appearances, and the organization would never get out of the second round. Leave it to Durant then to have a typically reflective opinion on whether or not he should be recognized when the Suns roll into town at the start of next month.
What would be in a @KDTrey5 Nets tribute video? I seriously mean that. The offseason buffoonery? Him selling during the Celtics series? Wasted years for Nets fans and the organization. Just let that career sunset 🌅 https://t.co/a6EjuNf3lS
— PsychoNetsFan (@PsychoNetsFan) January 28, 2024
Durant is an exceptionally divisive figure when it comes to his online persona, but he's gotten this one spot on. He doesn't need a tribute video from the Nets to know that he's a first ballot Hall of Fame player, and stopping the game for his to be showered with what is sure to be... a muted response from fans is not the look either.
The "X" account NetsFrequent might be having a joke by saying that Durant requested more trades than he won playoff series with the franchise, but Durant also sees the funny side of this comment as well. Even if that is stretching the truth a bit, he doesn't have the connection with that fanbase that he does with the Oklahoma City Thunder or Golden State Warriors.
Even the Suns likely wouldn't give him a tribute if he happened to leave at the end of this current season, unless they won a championship. Neither Irving or Harden also received that sort of love from their former team, and Durant should be no different. The best of those three players who came together in Brooklyn yes, but he wasn't even the last one to leave town as Irving stuck around longer.
In fact it was the Suns who gave two of their former players the full tribute package treatment when the Nets were last in The Valley, with Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson receiving some love from the fans and the organization. This was different though, because the Suns drafted both and the two were on a roster that made it all the way to the 2021 Finals.
Where they were beaten by... a Milwaukee Bucks group that squeaked through their conference semi-finals matchup because Durant's toe was on the line. Funny how the league works sometimes. Suns fans had a special bond with both Bridges and Johnson as well though, as they grew with the team and helped turn the franchise from laughing stock into contenders.
Both are still missed to this day, while Durant is already an afterthought in Brooklyn. A painful one as well, because he was supposed to help to challenge the supremacy of the New York Knicks and help the Nets win a championship. So no, you don't just get a tribute for being an amazing player, it is about more than that. The fact Durant realizes this makes him even more real in the eyes of many.