Steve Nash, Kevin Durant patch up differences as Nets training camp begins
Kevin Durant of the Nets and head coach Steve Nash look on during a game against the Mavericks at Barclays Center on March 16. Credit: Jim McIsaac
From the outside looking in, you would think it would be shocking bordering on painful for Steve Nash to hear that Kevin Durant, his star player and friend, wanted to have him fired this summer.
Yet, when the Nets coach was asked about it Tuesday, after the first full day of training camp, he said reports that Durant wanted him gone didn’t leave him “overly concerned.”
“Knowing Kevin as long as I have, it didn’t really bother me the way everyone would think,” Nash said. “That’s part of being competitive. I wasn’t overly surprised and I wasn’t overly concerned.”
Nash also went on to say that he didn’t fully believe reports that Durant had told Nets owner Joe Tsai in early August that if he wanted to keep him, he would have to get rid of Nash and Nets general manager Sean Marks.
“I never thought that was 100% [true],” Nash said. “It’s not black and white like that. There’s a lot of factors, lots of things behind the scenes. Lots of things reported are not 100% accurate. So you get fragmented bits of the truth. You get things that are flat out not true.”
It does appear that was at least more than a kernel of truth to Durant’s it’s-me-or-them ultimatum as Tsai tweeted shortly after the news broke: “Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”
Apparently, what was felt to be in the best interest of the Nets is to talk everyone into coming back, which means that Durant will now be playing for a coach and general manager that he reportedly tried to get fired.
Durant had a sit down with Nash, Marks and Tsai in Los Angeles on Aug. 22 and rescinded his trade request the next day. Nash said Tuesday that he thinks he and Kevin “are in a good place” heading into the season.
“We’re fine, we’re good,” he said. “Ever since we talked it’s been like nothing’s changed. I have a long history with Kevin. Love the guy. Families have issues. We had a moment and it’s behind us. That’s what happens. It’s a common situation in the league.
“We all were hurting, seething to go through what we went through last year not being able to overcome all that adversity. Sometimes you lose perspective because you expect to win. The reality is, we were able to talk and discuss what we can improve on from last year and also keep perspective. We went through a ton of stuff . . . You can’t just overreact. I think sometimes we as competitors lose sight of perspective because all we care about is winning.”
Notes & quotes: Tuesday was Ben Simmons’ first full day of practice since he was a 76er more than a year ago, and Nash liked what he saw. “Ben looked great,” Nash said. “He put in the time this summer and he’s continually getting better every week. It looks to me like he’s pretty close to the player we envisioned. He’s going to make a big impact for us.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
