Last year, Kevin Durant, the star forward for the Brooklyn Nets, requested a trade before the start of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Despite his trade request, the Nets opted to retain Durant, hoping to navigate through the challenges that plagued the team’s unity.
However, as the trade deadline approached last year, Durant witnessed a teammate Kyrie Irving successfully being traded to the Dallas Mavericks after requesting a move.
Feeling the need for change and echoing his earlier request, Durant was eventually traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Reflecting on the tumultuous period and his trade request, Durant highlighted the crucial elements of consistency and continuity essential for a team aiming to clinch a championship.
“It just wasn’t no consistency, no continuity on who we were as a team,” Durant emphasized in a recent statement to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. He pointed out that establishing a clear team identity from the beginning is vital for championship aspirations.
“And when you want to win a championship, you’ve got to build an identity from Day 1, and it was just a lot of circumstances that were out of the players’ control that got in the way of us building our continuity.”
