Kevin Durant made his first appearance with the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, though it will be a longer wait before he actually makes his on-court debut.
"It was a lot of ups and downs, but I loved the grind. Everyone in Brooklyn loved the grind too, so I built a family over there. They always gonna be a part of my journey. We didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish as far as winning a championship, but I enjoyed the grind. Everybody there, we tried our hardest everyday regardless of what was going on in the media, what was going on with our teammates. Everybody who was in that gym, we grinded.
"So I love those guys. I get emotional talking about it because that was a special four years of my career coming off an Achilles. They helped me through a lot. It was terribly how some stuff went down, but at the end of the day I love the grind and we all loved the grind in Brooklyn. I wish them the best going forward, they got a bright future."
Durant was also asked the natural question of his thoughts on Irving's trade request, which came after the All-Star point guard's relationship with the team eroded after extended controversies over his refusal to get vaccinated and his sharing of an antisemitic documentary on social media."Yeah, I was upset that we couldn't finish. I thought we had some good momentum. We were finally building the culture that we always wanted.
The Suns probably have good reason to expect less chaos with their organization, but there will be no less urgency to win now that the team has gone all-in on a core that features the 34-year-old Durant and 37-year-old Paul.
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