In March 2019, New York Knicks owner James Dolan proclaimed on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN radio that the organization heard from players who want to join the team. He said there would be dramatic changes in the offseason.
A highly prized free agent? Could that mean Kevin Durant?
After months of speculation, that ended up not being the case. Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets.
Apparently, that speculation had no basis on Durant’s actual thought process, told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on “All the Smoke.” He never strongly considered the Knicks.
“That’s the media hyping that (expletive) up,” Durant said. “I never came out and said anything about me wanting to play for the Knicks, ever.”
“When we came here last year, they had the billboards up and somebody asked me about it, and I wasn’t too excited about it, because I didn’t like it.
“…It wasn’t like I had something against the Knicks. I just didn’t like all that attention when I was playing for another team. I never really was big on that New York thing. It was just everybody else. The media, the fans. Obviously the New York Knick fans, they wanted a superstar to come play for them finally. But I never promised anybody I was playing for the Knicks.”
The organization didn’t help fans temper their expectations.
From Dolan’s radio appearance: “We hear from people all the time, from players and representatives about who wants to come … From what we’ve heard, I think we’re gonna have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents” to the team trading away Kristaps Porzingis in part to clear out salary space for two max contracts, signs pointed to New York being a destination location.
Turns out, it was the other New York team.
“I looked at other places like the (Los Angeles) Clippers and I took a peek at the Knicks, you know, just to do my due diligence, but I really wanted to play for the black and white,” Durant said.
He saw the Brooklyn team and culture in a similar light to the early days of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I like the brand. Brooklyn was a new up-and-coming city that needed some new flair, new basketball injection,” Durant said.
“Being in Oklahoma City I knew what that as like, having a new franchise around. I was excited about hopefully doing something like that again in Brooklyn with a new team.”
The full “All the Smoke” episode can be watched below. Durant’s segment on the Nets begins at 30:42 and the Knicks at 40:36.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRaVJK0h6a0?start=1842]