Kevin Durant

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant fired back Friday at NBA fans on Twitter who remain critical of his decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

A conversation regarding Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Dubs derived from a discussion between former NBA player Evan Turner and Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala. Turner called the Warriors' dynasty "lame as f--k" and labeled it as "unfair" when KD signed with Golden State:

In response to a Twitter user who agreed with Turner's take, Durant lamented people "crying for seven years" about the fact that he signed with the Warriors:

Durant developed into one of the NBA's biggest stars with the Thunder franchise, and he came close to knocking off the Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, but fell just short.

The LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers went on to beat the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, which prompted them to consider a big move.

That came in the form of signing Durant, who spent three seasons with the Warriors and led them to the NBA Finals each time. The Dubs won championships over the Cavs in each of Durant's first two seasons, and he was named NBA Finals MVP each time.

Durant suffered a torn Achilles in the 2019 Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors and ended up signing with the Nets in free agency, thus signaling the end of the Warriors dynasty until they returned last year and won with Stephen Curry leading the way.

KD has often been criticized for his "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach due to the belief that it threw the NBA's balance of power out of whack.

In fairness to Durant, however, the concept of superteams started well before he signed with the Warriors. The prime examples were the Boston Celtics adding Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to a roster that already included Paul Pierce, and the Miami Heat adding both LeBron and Chris Bosh to go with Dwyane Wade.

Even the Cavs did it before the Warriors by signing James and acquiring Kevin Love while already having Kyrie Irving on the roster.

Although Durant's time in Golden State was brief, it was dominant, and it will seemingly always be a point of contention among fans.

Steve Kerr hopes to coach Kevin Durant once again during the 2024 Olympic cycle.

Speaking to reporters before the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Golden State Warriors 143-113 on Wednesday night, Kerr was asked about Durant possibly playing for Team USA during the Paris Games.

"That would be nice," the Warriors head coach said. "I mean, he's been so dominant with Team USA and like I said, he's a guy who just, he loves to play. So we're hoping he decides to keep going.

Kerr also joked he would "most likely" pull Durant aside to pitch him on the idea.

Kerr was named USA Basketball head coach in December. He is taking over for Gregg Popovich, who led the Americans to an Olympic gold medal during the Tokyo Games.

The Warriors head coach was an assistant on Popovich's staff during the 2020 Olympics. He played for the Team USA squad that won the FIBA World Championship in 1986.

Durant has not committed to playing for the U.S. team in 2024. The 12-time All-Star told reporters after Wednesday's game he's open to representing the United States in the Olympics again, but it's too early to make a decision.

The 2020 Olympics marked the third time Durant won a gold medal with Team USA. He averaged 20.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in six starts during the run in Tokyo. The Americans defeated France, 87-82, in the gold medal game.

Durant is tied with Carmelo Anthony for most Olympic gold medals won by an American men's basketball player. He will be 35 years old during the Paris Games.

If Durant does play for the United States, he will be reunited with Kerr as his head coach for the first time since leaving the Warriors after the 2018-19 season.

Golden State played in the NBA Finals in each of Durant's three seasons with the team. The Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2016-17 and 2017-18, with Durant being named Finals MVP both times.

The Los Angeles Lakers are believed to be interested in pursuing trades in hopes of improving their mediocre roster this season, and the team reportedly has some astronomical aspirations.

According to The Athletic's Jovan Buha on Saturday, the Lakers (12-16) have their eyes set on three superstar players as dream trade targets.

"In the ultimate pie-in-the-sky scenario, the Lakers have interest in Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal if any of the three stars were to become available," Buha wrote.

However, Lillard can't be traded until July 9 because he signed a two-year max extension with the Porland Trail Blazers (16-13) this past offseason.

On Dec. 15, players who signed free-agent contracts became eligible to be traded this season. Per Buha, the 74 additional players in the trade pool means "approximately 89 percent" of the league is able to be included in deals going forward.

Durant sent shockwaves through the NBA over the summer when he reportedly requested to be traded away from the Brooklyn Nets.

The 12-time All-Star ultimately decided to move forward with Brooklyn this season, and his decision is starting to pay off. The Nets (18-12) have won five straight games and nine of their last 10 to move up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference. It's unlikely they will be looking to trade Durant any time soon, as he leads the team with 29.9 points per game.

Beal has once again struggled to stay healthy this year and hasn't played since Dec. 4 because of a lingering hamstring injury. In his 18 appearances, he's averaged 22.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists. The Wizards have not been able to put things together this year at 11-18, and they might be willing to move on from their star shooting guard for the right price.

Buha named DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, Kyrie Irving and Doug McDermott as other players who have been linked to the Lakers in trade discussions. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported earlier this week that Los Angeles has also had talks about Bojan Bogdanović of the Detroit Pistons, as well as Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish of the New York Knicks.

It would appear that any of those players would be more realistic pursuits than Durant, Beal or Lillard.

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving made his first career game-winning buzzer-beater in Friday's thrilling 119-116 victory over the Toronto Raptors, but the original plan wasn't for him to take the shot.

Nets star forward Kevin Durant revealed to reporters after the game that head coach Jacque Vaughn had drawn up a play for him during the team's final timeout, but he suggested that the ball should go to Irving.

"He was already cooking, so I didn't want to get in his way," Durant said. "We kept finding him late in the game. He made some big shots, and I was just like, 'Jacque, I think Ky should take this one."

The suggestion from Durant paid off, as Irving drilled a step-back three-pointer over Raptors guard Fred VanVleet to propel Brooklyn to its fifth straight win and ninth in the last 10 games. Durant explained that he knew Irving would get a good look at the basket "especially" because he was being guarded by VanVleet.

"I'm not saying he's a bad defender, but they're the same size," he said of the 6'2" Irving and the 6'0" VanVleet. "He didn't have a 6'9" [Scottie] Barnes or a 6'5" guy on him that had size, so I felt he could get whatever he want there, and I also felt like they wasn't going to run and double him either at the top of the key because he obviously could just beat that. So they let him play one-on-one, and it was a special, special shot."

Irving finished with a team-high 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting, his third 30-point performance in his last four games. The 30-year-old is now averaging 25.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists this season.

"It just comes with the trust that we're building here," Irving said of his game-winner. "Jacque had a play call that we were about to go execute, and me and K had some dialogue and we decided to run the play for me. A good matchup versus Fred. We just got the better of him that one time."

After some early-season tumult—most notably during Irving's suspension for promoting an antisemitic film and initially refusing to apologize—the Nets appear to have found the form necessary to be a contender in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn will go for its sixth straight win Sunday against the Detroit Pistons (8-23).

James Harden's time with the Brooklyn Nets didn't last long, and one issue was his friction with Kevin Durant during the 2021-22 campaign.

"Harden and Durant, according to multiple Nets sources, butted heads during the season," Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports reported. "Durant didn't think Harden was in peak physical shape, and told him as much."

Harden came to Brooklyn in January 2021, creating an exciting lineup of superstars alongside Durant and Kyrie Irving. In February 2022, Harden was shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal that brought back Ben Simmons.

Despite high expectations for the trio in Brooklyn, the team failed to reach their potential, reaching just the second round of the playoffs in 2021. The Nets finished as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference last year after trading away Harden, eventually losing in the first round.

"The whole two years was a low point. I've never really had to deal with something like that," Harden said of his time in Brooklyn. "My body, mentally, physically … It was a lot going on. I mean, basketball is everything to me."

In addition to reported conflicts with Durant, Harden also had issues with the Nets training staff.

A hamstring injury kept the guard off the court during his final weeks with the team before being traded to Philadelphia.

Hamstring issues also cost Harden over a month in 2020-21 regular season. He later missed three playoff games as the Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.

Despite his miserable time in Brooklyn, Harden remains close with Durant. The former teammates spent time together at Harden's 33rd birthday on a yacht.

"Me and him are cool," Harden said of Durant. "We went on a couple summer trips together."

The NBA announced Thursday that it fined the Brooklyn Nets $25,000 for resting eight players in a 136-133 win over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 10.

The league said the fine was for "for failing to comply with league policies governing injury reporting."

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton, Seth Curry, Royce O'Neale, Joe Harris and T.J. Warren were all held out of the lineup in what was the second game of a back-to-back.

Despite being without each of their top eight scorers in terms of points per game, the Nets beat the Pacers thanks to a 33-point performance by Cam Thomas off the bench, as well as 24 points for Patty Mills, 21 points for Edmond Sumner and 20 points for Day'Ron Sharpe.

Per ESPN's Nick Friedell, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said prior to the Pacers game that there was a legitimate and legal reason for every absence:

"I think everything that's been reported today has been documented. And so we know that Seth [Curry] and Joe [Harris] had offseason ankle [surgeries], there's no argument to that. Nic [Claxton] didn't play last game because he had hamstring tightness, there's no argument to that. Kevin's leading the league in minutes, there's no argument to that. Royce [O'Neale] had a personal reason, he's missing the next game, there's no argument to that."

The NBA apparently wasn't satisfied.

The Nets are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference at 17-12 and have been on a roll lately, winning four games in a row and eight of their past nine.

The eight players who sat out against the Pacers have been the driving force behind that success, especially Durant and Irving.

Durant is in the NBA MVP conversation with averages of 30.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, while Irving is trending toward another All-Star selection with averages of 25.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest.

There was a great deal of uncertainty regarding the Nets during the offseason. Durant requested a trade, and Irving could have become a free agent had he opted out of his deal.

Both stars decided to stay for at least one more season, however, and so far it is paying dividends for them and the team.

The Nets have also showcased their impressive roster depth, no more so than in the win against Indiana.

Brooklyn figures to have a far more representative lineup for its next game on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has high praise for Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal.

"He's a Hall of Fame, All-Star player. Take that away from your team, you're trying to figure out where that impact's gonna come from," Durant told reporters after Beal missed Monday's Nets-Wizards game with a hamstring injury.

Beal has been limited by injury to 18 games this season but is in his most efficient scoring campaign, shooting a career-high 52.2 percent. While his scoring is down to 22.9 points per game, his lowest since 2017-18, that's largely because a strong Wizards offense has allowed him to tone down his attacks to the rim.

As far as Beal's Hall of Fame credentials, that's probably a stretch. He's made just three All-Star teams and one All-NBA team, and the Wizards have not gotten past the second round of the playoffs during his tenure with the franchise.

Even though the Basketball Hall of Fame has a lower barrier of entry than its football and baseball counterparts, Beal would have to write a strong second half to his career to make it to Springfield, Massachusetts.

That said, Beal is the type of player who can function in any lineup in any situation. He's a perfect fit for the Hall of Very Very Good, just not quite on the HOF level.

It's not quite right to say Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets have come full circle.

Yes, after downing the Washington Wizards by a final of 112-100 on Monday night, they've forced their way back into the ranks of the East's top teams, a position they seemed sure to hold until offseason chaos carried into the year and nearly blew the team apart. But a circle is a simple, orderly shape, and the path KD and his team traveled to get here was neither of those things.

Their route, represented graphically, would look more like an EKG chart—peaks, troughs and flatlines.

The stripped-down controversy chronicles of this team's last few months could be spread over a decade for most franchises. Durant demanded a trade, and Irving sought his own route out of town. KD would later ask for both head coach Steve Nash and top executive Sean Marks' to be removed in a "they go, or I go" ultimatum. There was also Irving's suspension for promoting an antisemitic film and initially refusing to apologize, Nash's firing, the hand-wringing about Ben Simmons' health and effectiveness, Durant's public knocks on teammates, injuries up and down the roster and, probably, a partridge in a pear tree. ('Tis the season.)

Somehow, after all that, here the Nets are, winners in eight of their last nine games boasting a mark of 17-12 that'd give them home-court advantage in first-round series if the playoffs started today. That's not so far off from where they were expected to be when preseason oddsmakers gave them the fourth-best crack at winning the 2023 championship.

Better still, the vibes are—if not immaculate—pretty solid!

Scrutinize the schedule, and the skeptic's argument rings out clearly. Brooklyn has stabilized its season by beating up on the downtrodden. Of its eight victories since Nov. 27, only one came against a team that currently totes a winning record. That was the very first win of this surge, a 111-97 victory over a Portland Trail Blazers team missing Damian Lillard. After that, the Nets took out the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers before besting the Wizards again on Monday night.

Note, too, only the Portland and most recent Washington wins came by double figures.

Durant and the Nets know what the critics can say of their ship-righting couple of weeks, and they don't care.

The Nets are within their rights to enjoy the results of this run and the way they've brought positive attention to a team that, for a long while, only seemed to attract the negative kind. Durant, though, is also encouraged by the process.

That includes improved attention to detail on defense.

Just as importantly, there's been an emphasis on accountability from Nash's replacement as head coach, Jacque Vaughn.

None of those details would matter if Brooklyn's talent level were lower. We can talk about switching defenses and new voices in the locker room, but skill speaks loudest. And the Nets' return to the contention conversation is mostly about players performing the way they're supposed to.

Durant hung an easy 30 points on the Wizards and is averaging 32.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists on 62.9 percent shooting during the Nets' 8-1 stretch. Irving is at 25.5 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting in that same window, and both Seth Curry and Joe Harris are finally striping it from deep at rates more in line with their elite career numbers, drilling 42.4 and 46.3 percent from downtown since Nov. 27, respectively.

T.J. Warren has also returned to the floor after two years on the shelf and though his role has been limited, he's provided efficient secondary scoring as well as another dangerous shot-creator with first-option experience.

Ben Simmons also logged 10 points, eight boards and five assists on 5-of-9 shooting against Washington. He's only played in four of the Nets' last nine games while battling a calf injury, but he was on the best run of his brief Brooklyn career prior to that.

The Nets aren't perfect. They still need more depth up front behind Nic Claxton, and Simmons' health will remain a concern until he stays on the floor long enough to prove it isn't. But add up Durant's reliable dominance, Irving's relatively uneventful few weeks and a supporting cast rounding into form, and you've got a team with the talent to do real damage against almost anybody. It can't be overlooked that the only defeat on the Nets' ledger this month came against the Boston Celtics.

Are the Nets on the same level as the Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks as East elites? Nobody should feel confident saying that after nine strong games against a weak schedule. But given where this season once seemed headed, it's a minor miracle that Brooklyn is a) still intact, and b) actually good enough to legitimize a question about their fitness as contenders.

Credit talent trumping all, Vaughn's influence, or Durant as a constant amid the chaos he largely created. Just don't write the Nets off. Any team that can make it back from where they were, regardless of how or against whom they did it, makes anything seem possible.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Dec. 12. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.