“If they don’t trade you, you can act like a bad guy and they have to get rid of you” - Chris "Mad Dog" Russo says players requesting trades is a bad look for the NBA, cites Kevin Durant as example
Kevin Durant's trade request is an example of why the NBA is starting to look bad, according to analyst Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.
Russo said:
“If they don’t trade you, you can act like a bad guy and they have to get rid of you. So, it's a major problem, and that’s a bad look for the NBA.”
Kevin Durant's trade request looks bad on the NBA
Durant jumped to Golden State in 2016 for two championships and then left for Brooklyn in 2019. Now, both Durant and Kyrie Irving want out of Brooklyn after producing zero results for the city.
Durant has a four-year contract, getting paid $44.1 million this season and up to $53.28 million in 2025-26. Durant played in 90 of 226 games in the past three seasons for Brooklyn. Irving opted into his contract for $36.5 million this season. He played 103 of 226 games in three seasons with the team.
James Harden, the third member of the Big Three, became disenchanted and requested a trade, leaving in February. Harden is known for shutting down if he does not get moved to where he wants, so Brooklyn was forced to trade him. He left the Houston Rockets the previous January to get to Brooklyn.
Landing Harden came at a steep price. Brooklyn shipped three first-round draft picks (2022, 2024 and 2026) and four first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027) to the Rockets.
Then, when Harden left in February, the Nets' best return was Ben Simmons, who never played for Brooklyn. Simmons, who had back surgery and said he has mental health issues, did not play in the NBA last season. (Simmons also held out from the Philadelphia 76ers despite signing a lengthy extension.)
Now, Durant seems to be pulling the same stunt as Harden. Most know that if players do not get traded out when they want to leave, the team is going to pay. Regardless of their skills, players do not play to the best of their abilities after not getting what they want.
Russo talked about this problem:
“This is a very bad look for the NBA, where these players decide they wanna bail and go somewhere else. … Fans don’t like it.”
It is hard for fans to stay loyal to teams or players when there is so much bouncing around. If Durant gets trade, for instance, he will be playing for his fourth team since 2016. Irving, likewise, could be on his fourth team since 2017. The moves make it hard to maintain a connection.
On top of that, when organizations do not have the power to control their players, that is when the league pays. If players can shut down and harbor a poor attitude when they don’t get what they want, what is the point in keeping them and staying loyal?
Players like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard have both been on their squads for over a decade. Curry, of course, has met a lot of success, due in part to the Warriors drafting stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Lillard has been short on luck but has stayed loyal nonetheless.
Attitudes like those are what help breed championship-contending teams. It makes players want to join Dame and help get him the ring he has been trying to build for himself.
The same cannot be said for KD and Irving. Kyrie won a championship with LeBron James in 2016, and Durant won with the Warriors for the following two years. But both have bounced around from team to team, which makes organizations question their longevity.
Squads want players like Steph or Dame, or even LeBron, who has bounced around but produces results everywhere he goes. Durant and Irving, and even Harden, helped show that if players are unhappy, they can virtually make the move themselves by shutting down.
Durant does not seem like the type of player to shut down if he does not get traded, but his loyalty in Kyrie seems to have dissipated. With that, one of them is probably going to have to leave the Nets for that team to work.
Still, both are worth plenty, regardless of their attitudes. That's why Russo believes this to be a problem for the league.