Kevin Durant

Twitter erupted on Monday night after photos showing Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum participating in an on-court workout together surfaced.

KD and Tatum in the lab together 🤝

(📸: @bredhampton) pic.twitter.com/1wj1IgayC0

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 16, 2022

It normally wouldn't be big news for two NBA players who are friends to get some offseason work in together, but since the Celtics have been linked to a Durant trade, the circumstances are far from normal.

Durant's business manager, Rich Kleiman, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t ESPN's Tim Bontemps) in June that KD had requested a trade out of Brooklyn.

While nothing has gotten done on that front, several teams have been linked to Durant, and the Celtics are among them.

Last month, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Celtics offered the Nets Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick for Durant, however, the offer was rejected.

The fan reaction to the photo of Durant and Tatum primarily focused on Brown, with both serious and comedic tweets about how he may have reacted to seeing the photos:

If I’m Jaylen Brown this doesn’t sit right with me knowing the franchise tried to trade me for me for him and my right hand man shooting around with him

— True Visionary (@NickHallVision) August 16, 2022

https://twitter.com/KreoleKidAlex/status/1559353717568192515

Jaylen Brown doesn’t like this post

— J (@smith8982) August 16, 2022

That got JB tight af

— Kyle Haschak (@KHashtagNBA) August 16, 2022

Where Jaylen at?? 😳😳

— Omar King (@OmarKin01119481) August 16, 2022

Jaylen Brown you are a Brooklyn Net

— ☔️ (@klutchagent) August 16, 2022

As is always the case on social media, the GIFs, photos and videos rolled in as part of the reaction as well:

Jaylen brown : pic.twitter.com/9DhAeCpQ9K

— Primo (@Supreme_takes) August 16, 2022

https://twitter.com/StudentOfRap/status/1559350816548470786

Jaylen Brown: traitor! pic.twitter.com/fJAybs3yoo

— Rafa Silva (@Rafa_Silv4rs) August 16, 2022

Jaylen Brown rn https://t.co/UCSs8ikGlo pic.twitter.com/pGdAUHCUxB

— Brassy ⭐️☘️ (@BrassyDFS) August 16, 2022

At 33 years of age, Durant is still one of the NBA's top players. He averaged 29.9 points per game last season.

He also has a Hall of Fame resume to his credit with 12 All-Star nods, four scoring titles, two NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards and one NBA MVP award.

KD was the missing piece to the puzzle that helped the Golden State Warriors win two more championships in the past, and it is fair to wonder if he could serve a similar purpose for a Celtics team that reached the NBA Finals last season before falling to the Warriors.

Tatum is Boston's unquestioned top star after averaging 26.9 points per game during the 2021-22 regular season and 25.6 points during the playoffs, but Brown was integral to the team's success as well.

The one-time All-Star put up 23.6 points per contest in 66 regular-season games last season, plus 23.1 points per game during the postseason.

He is also just 25 years of age, which suggests he may still have plenty of growing and developing left to do.

Trading Brown for anyone would be a risky endeavor because of his potential to become an MVP-caliber player, but if the Celtics can land Durant and make a strong run at a championship, it could be worth it.

Durant and Tatum were teammates on the 2020 United States men's basketball Olympic team, so Monday's photos may be much ado about nothing. However, that won't stop speculation from running rampant.

Kevin Durant's name has been in the headlines for much of the NBA's offseason, but the next headline won't be announcing his retirement.

"I know most people will believe unnamed sources over me but if it's anyone out there that'll listen, I don't plan on retiring anytime soon," Durant tweeted. "S--t is comical at this point."

The tweet comes after NBA insider Marc Stein reported a team executive told him during the NBA Summer League that Durant "was more apt to retire than play again for the Brooklyn Nets."

This is yet another chapter in the Durant saga that reached another level on Aug. 8 when Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the future Hall of Famer met with Nets governor Joe Tsai and said the team needed to choose between trading him or firing general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash.

Tsai offered his public support for the staff in the aftermath of that report:

Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022

Brooklyn has not yet traded Durant, further indicating it hasn't received an offer it finds acceptable for the 12-time All-Star. If he isn't traded and Tsai doesn't fire Marks and Nash, it could create something of an awkward situation when the season begins.

Perhaps some believed retirement could be a potential avenue to increase his leverage in the situation, and Stein provided more details:

"If Durant hasn't been traded by [training camp], there is a growing expectation in league circles that he will continue trying to cause as much of a ruckus behind the scenes to try to prod the Nets into lowering their asking price at last to facilitate a deal. If it wasn't apparent by now, he really wants that trade to Phoenix or Miami or maybe even Boston or Philadelphia, no matter what it does to his reputation when he hasn't played a single game yet under the four-year, $194 million contract extension signed in August 2021."

Yet Durant put an end to such retirement speculation with a single tweet Monday, leaving the two sides right where they were before Stein's report.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst suggested Durant may hold out of training camp in an effort to get the trade he desires, which would only increase the attention given to the situation and likely force Nash and other players to answer constant questions about his whereabouts.

Until there is some type of resolution, this will remain the biggest NBA storyline as the offseason continues.

It may drag into the 2022-23 campaign, but basketball fans wanting to watch Durant take the court again can at least take solace knowing he won't be retiring in the immediate future.

When the Brooklyn Nets landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency three years ago, many pointed to the culture of competence as the reason they chose the Nets over the New York Knicks.

It turns out that's not the case.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Durant and Irving chose the Nets because they would be "willing to bend to their will far more than James Dolan-owned New York would."

Tension between the organization and the Durant-Irving duo apparently exists because the Nets have been less willing than expected to bend to the will of their two All-Stars.

"Durant and Irving did not come to Brooklyn because they were impressed by the culture Marks and [Kenny] Atkinson built," Stein wrote. "They did not choose the Nets to be part of a program. They chose the Nets to be the program."

If the Nets' culture of the last three seasons is what Durant and Irving wanted to build, it's hard to blame the organization for wanting a change. The 2019-20 season was essentially a redshirt for all parties given Durant's recovery from an Achilles tear, but the last two years have largely been a mess.

The Nets pushed all their chips to the table during the 2020-21 campaign and traded for James Harden, only to watch their playoff hopes go down the drain thanks to injuries to Irving and Harden. While it predated the playoff collapse, the Nets also watched Irving step away from the team for personal reasons on dates that happened to coincide with his sister's birthday.

Even all of that could have been forgiven if it weren't for what transpired all last season. Irving's decision to not undergo COVID-19 vaccination was arguably the most damaging in franchise history. It led to him playing in only 29 regular-season games, helped embolden Harden to request a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers and further sullied the reputation of the already-polarizing Irving.

As the Nets suffered a first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics, it was clear something had to change. From Brooklyn's perspective, it's clearly the amount of power given to Irving and Durant.

The team made it abundantly clear it had no interest in giving Irving a long-term contract extension, and now the Nets are playing hardball amid Durant's trade request. While it's likely the Nets will eventually part ways with their two stars, Brooklyn's new culture may be the strongest pushback yet on the so-called "player empowerment era."

Don't expect a reunion between the Brooklyn Nets and Kevin Durant.

The superstar forward reportedly believes his trade request is justified because the organization has altered its relationship with its star players, per NBA reporter Marc Stein:

Brooklyn's change in approach since the season ended is thus believed to be a key driver in Durant's sudden desire to leave. For all the criticism he is taking for trying to force his way out, and most recently taking the extreme step of calling for the ousters of [general manager Sean Marks] and coach Steve Nash if the Nets refuse to trade him, Durant appears to be operating under the belief that he is justified in making all these rebel demands because the Nets have abruptly changed the terms of their deal.

Stein reported Durant and Kyrie Irving were believed to have originally picked the Nets as a free-agent destination over the New York Knicks because "they perceived Brooklyn, as much as anything, to be willing to bend to their will far more than James Dolan-owned New York would. That is no longer happening, hence the chaos."

Irving even told reporters in late April, after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics in a first-round sweep, that he and Durant had a "co-management relationship" with the organization.

"When I say I'm here with Kev, I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside [team governor Joe Tsai] and [Marks] and just our group of family members that we have in our locker room and our organization," Irving added at the time. "I think we just got to make some moves this offseason and really talk about it and really be intentional about what we're building and have some fun with it."

But given that the Nets either didn't offer Irving a long-term contract extension or didn't offer Irving the extension he was expecting—instead, the mercurial point guard exercised his $36.9 million player option for the 2022-23 season and has been the source of trade rumors, with free agency now looming in a year—it's become fairly clear that the organization has had enough of the "co-management relationship."

And given Irving has ghosted the team entirely at points, barely played last season since he was ineligible for home games as an unvaccinated player throughout much of the year and has missed his fair share of time due to injuries across three seasons, the Nets fearing they couldn't rely on him—and not wanting to commit to him long-term—didn't come as a huge surprise.

The bigger surprise has been that Durant—who has dealt with his own share of injuries but hasn't been a distraction for the organization beyond that, at least publicly—is now the one sowing discord.

And he may be prepared to bunker down to secure his exit, with Stein reporting that one team executive told him during July's Summer League that he believes Durant is more inclined to retire than to ever play for the Nets again.

Durant pretty quickly shot down that rumor:

I know most people will believe unnamed sources over me but if it’s anyone out there that’ll listen, I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon. Shit is comical at this point.

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 15, 2022

Stein added that if Durant isn't traded by training camp, "there is a growing expectation in league circles that he will continue trying to cause as much of a ruckus behind the scenes to try to prod the Nets into lowering their asking price at last to facilitate a deal."

Durant, at least reportedly, believed he joined the Nets in a truly collaborative management situation. The Nets, after just one playoff series win in three seasons and more than a few headaches caused by the superstar duo of Durant and Irving, no longer seem interested in such a setup.

A divorce feels like the natural and inevitable conclusion. Until that happens, this particular drama will remain at the epicenter of the NBA universe.

Kevin Durant might be prepared to play some serious hardball in order to get the Brooklyn Nets to acquiesce to his trade request.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Monday that one team executive told him during the NBA Summer League that Durant "was more apt to retire than play again for the Brooklyn Nets."

Stein followed up to write the situation hasn't improved since then:

"If Durant hasn't been traded by [training camp], there is a growing expectation in league circles that he will continue trying to cause as much of a ruckus behind the scenes to try to prod the Nets into lowering their asking price at last to facilitate a deal. If it wasn't apparent by now, he really wants that trade to Phoenix or Miami or maybe even Boston or Philadelphia, no matter what it does to his reputation when he hasn't played a single game yet under the four-year, $194 million contract extension signed in August 2021."

The 12-time All-Star issued a them-or-me ultimatum to Nets team governor Joe Tsai, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. Charania reported Aug. 8 that he "reiterated his trade request and informed Tsai that he needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash."

Tsai wasted little time in addressing the story and making it clear he's behind Marks and Nash:

Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022

The fact that Durant remains a member of the Nets seems to illustrate that the team won't accept less than what it believes is fair market value. Charania noted the Nets "made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant."

Threatening to retire—or at least refusing to play—is the kind of tactic that could force Brooklyn's hand. Taking the best trade offer on the table, even if it's below what Marks is demanding, is better than getting nothing.

However, Durant potentially puts himself in a no-win position if he goes down this route and the Nets remain steadfast. In that scenario, he either backs down and makes his entire protest pointless, or he retires and allows that to be the last image of his legendary career.

Whether it's an accurate critique or not, Charles Barkley spoke for more than a few fans when he described the 6'10" forward as "riding the bus" in reference to the two titles he won with the Golden State Warriors.

"If you ain't driving the bus, don't walk around talkin' bout you a champion!"

Chuck sounds off on KD's playoff performance. pic.twitter.com/NSULRff4nD

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 24, 2022

Walking away would only provide more ammunition to Durant's loudest skeptics. As much as his legacy is cemented, retiring and leaving behind a mess he helped create would hang around him for years to come.

The Brooklyn Nets will not allow themselves to be bullied into trading Kevin Durant on his schedule.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst appeared Monday on Get Up (28-second mark) and indicated there has been zero progress in trade talks despite Durant attempting to exert pressure on the Nets behind the scenes:

"Ten days ago, Kevin Durant and Joe Tsai met in London. Durant really tried to apply the pressure by asking for Steve Nash and Sean Marks to get fired. And guess what has happened? Nothing. Nothing has happened. The dynamic around Kevin Durant hasn't changed at all. There hasn't been an urgency in trade talks. There hasn't been a change in strategy by the Brooklyn Nets.

"I think what we have here is really a study of leverage. First off, the Nets do not have leverage in trade talks with other teams. They are not giving them the offers that they want. They see no reason to increase them. And so they're not making any progress there. And Kevin Durant clearly does not have leverage with the Brooklyn Nets. He is asking for things: 'Get me traded. Fire the coach. Fire the GM.' He is being told no. So when you have denied leverage, you have a stalemate."

Durant originally requested a trade in late June. The situation has moved at a glacial pace in the ensuing weeks, with the Nets setting a massive price tag in trade talks and teams consistently falling short of those demands.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported last week that Durant met with Tsai earlier this month to again reiterate his desire for an exit or to have the team replace Nash as coach and Marks as general manager. Tsai went on the offensive on social media after word of that meeting leaked, saying he plans to stick by his coach and GM.

Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022

Barring a team giving the Nets a more palatable offer, the tension may simmer on the backburner until training camp starts next month. That's the next time Durant can attempt to exert any power, potentially holding out of camp—or by showing up and creating a media circus.

Durant's best potential leverage play is, at this point, to make the situation as difficult as possible. By creating a constant distraction, Durant could force Tsai's hand into approving a deal simply to end the fiasco. If the Nets start acting with some level of urgency, it may create a bidding war to allow them to save some face in trade talks.

There is no way the Nets' original asking price of two All-Star players was ever going to be met. It was an unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky ask.

That said, teams may be willing to budge if they start to feel momentum is actually building to send Durant elsewhere. Until the pace of talks increases, there's no reason for teams to move off their already established offers.

Whether Kevin Durant will end up on the fourth franchise of his career remains the biggest storyline of the NBA offseason, but the future Hall of Famer believes switching jerseys has done nothing to hurt his legacy.

Durant responded to a tweet from someone who said switching teams so often "is kinda tainting your legacy" and said, "It's all a matter of perspective my g. U say it's tainted, I say it's never been stronger."

It's impossible to argue that Durant's legacy isn't strong.

His resume includes two championships, two NBA Finals MVPs, a league MVP, a Rookie of the Year, four scoring titles, 10 All-NBA selections and 12 All-Star nods. He is one of the best players in league history and is a matchup nightmare because of his size and ability to score from seemingly anywhere.

However, detractors will point out that Durant's two championships came with the loaded Golden State Warriors, which just so happened to be the same team that eliminated his Oklahoma City Thunder in a hard-fought seven-game Western Conference Finals in 2016.

Golden State was a super team and may have won the championship all three years he was there if he and Klay Thompson didn't suffer injuries during the NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Durant looked to be a part of another super team with the Brooklyn Nets playing alongside Kyrie Irving and James Harden, but things did not work out as planned. Irving was sidelined for much of the past season because he was unvaccinated against COVID-19, and Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now Durant could be on the move again.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Durant told Nets governor Joe Tsai that the team needs to either trade him or fire the combination of head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks.

The hostility between Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets may just be getting started.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said Durant's next step in forcing a trade may be holding out of training camp.

"A week ago, if you had asked me, 'Will Kevin Durant hold out of training camp if he's not traded?' I would have been like, 'Ehh, I can't see it.' Now I can see it. That is what we're headed toward," Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast.

Durant told Nets governor Joe Tsai he wanted a trade in late June. The organization has been moving at a glacial pace in the weeks since, setting an understandably massive price tag for the 12-time All-Star.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Durant met again with Tsai earlier this month and said he wanted coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks fired if the team wanted him back next season. Tsai publicly responded to the report on Twitter, saying he has no plans to acquiesce to Durant's demands.

Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) August 8, 2022

Allowing word of such a drastic demand to leak publicly was likely a power play on Durant's part.

Given the lack of tangible movement on the trade front, Durant's best avenue to force a move is to make the situation as toxic as possible. Publicly demanding the removal of a general manager and a coach is one of the biggest plays a player has in his hand.

Should the Nets fail to make a trade before camp, Nash and every player on the roster will be forced to answer constant questions about Durant's desire for the coach's removal. If Durant shows up, the spotlight will be on every interaction between the player and coach. If he holds out, Durant will be the focus in a different way.

Regardless, the situation will be a circus. After the complete mess that was the 2021-22 season in Brooklyn, it's likely every member of upper management wants a more harmonious group next season.

Durant seems determined to make that as difficult as possible. It's a strategy that's going to invite significant public scorn, but it may be his best bet at getting out of Brooklyn before the season begins.

Despite the way their time as teammates with the Brooklyn Nets ended, Kevin Durant and Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden are reportedly back on good terms.

During an appearance on NBA Today, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne suggested there are no hard feelings between KD and Harden even though Harden essentially forced his way out of Brooklyn last season:

"From what I'm told, the two former teammates are back on good terms now despite [James] Harden forcing his way out of Brooklyn."@ramonashelburne on the Sixers' reported interest in trading for Kevin Durantpic.twitter.com/RI9dUP9Noq

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 12, 2022

Shelburne noted that Durant and Harden were recently backstage together at a Travis Scott concert in London, signaling that any potential issues have been patched up.

News of Durant and Harden being on the same page comes after SNY's Ian Begley reported this week that there are "high-ranking members" of the 76ers organization who have "felt strongly" about talking to the Nets about a trade involving Durant.

Begley added that Durant views Philly as a "welcome landing spot," meaning there could be some legs to the rumors.

In June, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t ESPN's Tim Bontemps) reported that Durant's business manager, Rich Kleiman, said KD had requested a trade out of Brooklyn and the Nets agreed to work with him on finding a trade.

At the time, Wojnarowski noted that the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat were Durant's two preferred trade destinations.

For whatever reason, nothing has worked out on those fronts yet, and there hasn't been any movement regarding Durant's trade market.

The Suns matching the Indiana Pacers' offer sheet for center Deandre Ayton may have thrown a wrench into their plans to trade for Durant since Ayton may have been a centerpiece of that deal and now can't be traded until during the season.

Meanwhile, the Heat are perhaps hesitant to mess with their depth or to trade away key players like Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and others.

The Sixers would almost certainly have to part with a rising star at guard in Tyrese Maxey to land Durant, but it could be worth it in order to have a superstar triumvirate of Durant, Harden and Joel Embiid.

Brooklyn's attempt at a big three of Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving didn't work out like it hoped, as the Nets were knocked out in the second round of the playoffs in 2021, traded Harden to the 76ers during the 2021-22 season and then got swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Trading for Durant would likely be worth the risk for the Sixers, though, as they have been unable to get past the second round of the playoffs despite reaching the postseason in each of the past five campaigns.

Durant is an all-time great who is a two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP, and he is coming off a season in which he averaged 29.9 points per game at the age of 33.

Adding him to the reigning MVP runner-up in Embiid and a perennial All-Star and one-time NBA MVP in Harden would perhaps make the 76ers the scariest team in the Eastern Conference and a force to be reckoned with come playoff time if they could stay healthy.

The Los Angeles Lakers are eyeing deals beyond a trade for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving or a package from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for veteran point guard Russell Westbrook, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

"If and when Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell get traded, the space to make a Westbrook trade probably opens a little wider with the costs getting cleared," Woike wrote. "Lakers sources insist they have options beyond the ones that have been reported (Irving, Buddy Hield, Myles Turner and others). Time should better reveal those once the bigger moves get made."

Irving has reportedly been interested in teaming up with his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James in L.A. since before he opted in to his $36.9 million player option with the Nets for 2022-23.

On July 2, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that the Lakers and Nets were "actively engaged" in discussions centered around an Irving-Westbrook swap, adding that there was "palpable optimism" a deal could be reached this summer.

However, The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported last week that talks between the Lakers and Nets have ceased and likely won't resume until Kevin Durant, who requested a trade out of Brooklyn in June, is moved.

The Lakers and Pacers had engaged in trade talks involving Westbrook for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield earlier this summer. However, The Athletic's Bob Kravitz reported late last month that those negotiations were dead because the Lakers refused to include two first-round picks alongside Westbrook.

Westbrook had a disappointing 2021-22 season with the Lakers, his first in L.A. after a one-year stint with the Washington Wizards. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 78 games while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 29.8 percent from deep.

It was arguably the 33-year-old's worst season in the NBA, and his trade value plummeted because of it.

If the Lakers are serious about wanting to move Westbrook, they almost certainly will have to include their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in any package. Unless they're willing to do that, the veteran point guard will likely remain in the Purple and Gold in 2022-23.

The Lakers do have a plan in place if they can't move Westbrook. Haynes reported earlier this week that the team is "hopeful for a corner-three shooting percentage bump from Russell Westbrook next season."

New head coach Darvin Ham said just a few weeks ago that he would like Westbrook to take more corner threes than he's ever taken in his career. That came after he told Andscape's Marc Spears that he had a plan for the veteran this season.

"I love Russell Westbrook, man. Just his mentality, his approach. Just to see him, a guy of that magnitude and everything he's done in the league to get hated on," Ham said. "But being me, I got a wholehearted plan, a clear plan on how I'm going to use him."

With the summer winding down, we'll see how desperate the Lakers get to move Westbrook and field a legitimate title contender.