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SALT LAKE CITY — Much of the NBA world descended on the Utah capital this week, with airport billboards, downtown murals and decked out light rail trains marking the city’s first All-Star weekend since 1993, when John Stockton and Karl Malone were halfway there, beefing up their legendary run as jazz legends.
Ahead of Friday’s midseason showcase, the center of the basketball universe could be found across the state line with Arizona when the Phoenix Suns officially introduced Kevin Durant after a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets last week.
Despite being selected as an All-Star starter, Durant will not play in Salt Lake City because of a knee sprain he sustained Jan. 8-round picks and a first-round pick swap to Brooklyn Durant has trained with his new teammates, assisted in the Suns’ home win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, and modeled his new No. 35 jersey, a return to the number he wore with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors before joining the Nets attracted the No. 7.
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The 2014 MVP was joined by new Suns owner Mat Ishbia and President James Jones at a press conference that doubled as a cheer rally for thousands of fans at the Suns’ home arena, the Footprint Center. Durant, who is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season, said he plans to return to the court “hopefully soon after the game.” [all-star] Break,” adding that the Suns “had all the pieces” to push for the 2023 title.
“I could feel the excitement as soon as I got off the plane,” said Durant, 34. “Everywhere I’ve been, the fans have given me a warm welcome. I still feel like I have to prove myself every day. The only thing that keeps me busy at this point in my life is putting good stuff on film every night.
“I know how important a championship is to a franchise and a city. I was part of two of them. I look forward to getting back on the road to try again. But I know how tough it is and how difficult it is.”
Durant’s journey has featured an unusually high number of stops for an all-time great. After attending multiple high schools, he spent a one-off season at the University of Texas, his rookie season with the Seattle SuperSonics, eight seasons with the Thunder after the franchise’s move, three years with the Warriors and more than three years with the nets. In Phoenix, he will join a serious group led by Ishbia, Jones, coach Monty Williams and guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul as they seek the first championship in franchise history after narrowly losing in the 2021 Finals .
“We have guys who have experienced what it’s like to play in the finals,” Durant said. “We have a champion [in Jones] supervise us. Monty is a champion as [an assistant] Coach. We have people who have been there. That’s half the battle if you know what’s important. We have guys who can pretty much do anything on the floor. We have to put it together and I look forward to getting the job done.”
The 13-time All-Star forward could make the Suns the team to beat in a Western Conference marked by parity this season. Phoenix entered Thursday as the No. 4 with a 32-27 record, just four games behind the second-ranked Memphis Grizzlies. Durant and Booker give the Suns perhaps the best one-two in the NBA, and Durant’s pairing with center Deandre Ayton will make for a long and athletic frontcourt combination on defense.
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Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, the Hall of Fame men-turned-TNT commentators, opened All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City by pinning championship-or-buster hopes for the Suns after Durants networks burned out. While Barkley and O’Neal weren’t ready to name Phoenix title favorites just yet, they said Durant needs to act like a “bus driver” — their favorite term for a championship team leader and a role they say Durant avoided alongside Stephen Curry during his tenure with the Warriors.
“There’s a lot of pressure on him,” said Barkley, who compared his 1992 move to the Suns to Durant’s current situation. “He should lead this team. If they win, older guys like me will do the honors. He’s sensitive about that [bus driver talk], but he cannot change the narrative. He has to win a championship. Very easy. He must at least make it to the final. At least I got us to the [1993] Final. It’s exactly the same scenario.”
Charles Barkley says Kevin Durant could become a bus driver after Sun’s swap: “There’s a lot of pressure on him. He should lead this team. If they win, older guys like me will do him the honors… He’s sensitive, but he can’t change the narrative.” pic.twitter.com/oDYfpzulhm
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) February 16, 2023
O’Neal agreed, noting that Durant and Paul, who is still searching for his first title, will share the burden of the inflated expectations.
“The unfortunate thing about being a superstar is that if you don’t win those championships, they give you,” O’Neal said. “Not only [Durant], ChrisPaul. You have to make it this year. … If they don’t win, it’s going to be one hell of a summer for Mr. KD.”
While Durant requested a trade last summer after James Harden’s 2022 trade deadline move to the Philadelphia 76ers and a disappointing first-round exit, he opted to return to Brooklyn this season as the Nets couldn’t find a suitable trade. This season began in difficult circumstances, with coach Steve Nash fired after seven games and Kyrie Irving banned for eight games for promoting an anti-Semitic film on his social media accounts.
“It was awful how some things went down,” Durant said of the Brooklyn era. “I wish you all the best. You have a bright future. We just didn’t get on the pitch enough. James, Kyrie and I, it was amazing basketball, but for 17 games. To win a championship and be a great team you need more time on the pitch. It’s a different story as to why we didn’t come out on the pitch together. It just didn’t work out.”
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Durant’s trade to the Suns came quickly before the Feb. 9 deadline, just days after the Nets granted Irving’s trade request by moving the All-Star guard to the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns were on Durant’s short list of targets last summer, and both sides remained interested when Irving’s departure derailed the Nets’ plans.
“I thought we had a good dynamic and were building the culture that we wanted,” Durant said. “I didn’t know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organization. I wasn’t really concentrating on that. I was just concentrating on what we were doing on the pitch. It was a blow to our team. Without him we would not have a clear identity. That was hard for me to digest. It was tough not finishing the season but I tried to progress as quickly as possible and figure something out for myself.”
In Phoenix, Durant should expect fewer off-court distractions and greater lineup continuity. Paul, Booker and Ayton were all cores to the West-winning Phoenix 2021 team and its 2022 team, which set a franchise-record 64 wins before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. Indeed, Paul’s arrival via a 2020 trade with the Thunder helped turn around an organization that had missed the playoffs for 10 straight seasons.
This year, the Suns struggled when Booker was out with a groin injury, in part because 37-year-old Paul slipped from his all-star All-Star form. Durant’s arrival should lighten Booker’s load and allow Paul to focus on serving as pass-first distributor.
“They’ve been through a lot over the past few years,” Durant said. “You saw the growth in this team when Monty took over and when James came here. The culture started to change. The way they played and the energy they played with began to change. You have people working. I wanted to be part of it. They have already built the infrastructure and I look forward to expanding it.”
Durant has played basketball with both Paul and the 26-year-old Booker on the USA’s gold-medal-winning Olympic teams, and he praised Booker’s “pure game,” his tenacity, and his underrated athleticism. Despite all the cultural shifts of Paul and Booker’s growth, the Suns now face a tight deadline, with about two months to reconfigure around Durant before the playoffs begin.
“It’s always pressure because I’m one of the best players that’s ever played this game,” Durant said. “Every time I step on the floor, people expect me to do great things and the team I’m on to do great things. I know what’s on our backs. We want to make the most of this opportunity.”
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