While there seemed to be plenty of hope among Knicks fans that Kevin Durant would sign with New York as a free agent last summer, the superstar has again reiterated that joining the Knicks was never really a consideration.
“I never planned on going to the Knicks,” Durant told J.J. Redick on Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast. “That was just … the media (that) put that out there.”
Leading into last offseason, the prevailing thought was that the Knicks were going to do everything possible to free up cap space to add Durant and one other star, trading away Kristaps Porzingis to free up even more money.
But Durant said that he never really entertained the notion of signing with New York.
“I didn’t want to be the savior of the Knicks or New York,” Durant said. “I didn’t care about being the king of New York. That never really moved me. I didn’t care about being on Broadway. I just wanted to play ball and go to the crib and chill. And that’s what Brooklyn embodied.”
Instead, Durant signed a four-year, $164 million contract to play with the Brooklyn Nets. And while he sat out the entire season while recovering from his Achilles tear, Durant said that Brooklyn’s allure has always matched his personality.
“Brooklyn was everything I’m about,” Durant said. “Chill, on the low, all black everything, we quiet, just focus on basketball. There’s no show when you come to our games. There’s no Madison Square Mecca, all of that s--t. We just going to hoop and build something new over in Brooklyn … I felt that way around February leading up until March [2019], and then once free agency hit, it was time.”
You can listen to Redick’s full interview with Durant and Rich Kleiman here.
