NEW YORK — Kevin Durant was one of the players who changed the trajectory of the Brooklyn Nets given how he and Kyrie Irving excited a fanbase hungry for winning. While Durant is now playing his basketball as a member of the Phoenix Suns, he still found a way to appreciate his time in Brooklyn.
“It is what it is,” Durant said about getting a tribute video after putting up 33 points, five rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks in Wednesday’s 136-120 defeat of the Nets. Durant said earlier in the week that he preferred not to have a video tribute because of what he felt were insufficient reasons to be celebrated as a Net.
Durant said in his postgame interview with ESPN that while he didn’t want the tribute video, he made sure to watch it out of appreciation. He was asked about plenty of matters related to his time in Brooklyn, but Durant seemed more grateful of the experience and the honorary nature of the night than anything else.
One of the poetic things about Wednesday was that the Nets saw Durant do what he has always wanted to do: play basketball. The Barclays Center crowd was mostly positive towards Durant, but he did receive some boos from a certain section of the audience.
In all, Durant got the best of both worlds as he walked out of Barclays Center with the win while being able to be celebrated and go through so many moments that reminded him of what used to be. He had plenty to say about his relationship with Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn, who was able to coach Durant for a few months before he was traded last February:
“He (Vaughn) impacted me tremendously in the few months with him as head coach. How he moved as a coach, how he communicated with us. It’s something I’m going to take with me for the rest of my career.”
The Nets weren’t able to get the result they wanted, but they were able to compete against one of the greatest players in the NBA history and properly show him love as well.
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