NBA News Today: Kevin Durant miffed with narrative around 2022 finals, NBA penalizes New York Knicks for tampering, and more
Brooklyn Nets superstar forward Kevin Durant has spoken out against critics who used the Golden State Warriors' 2022 NBA title to discredit his legacy.
In other news, the New York Knicks have been penalized for tampering to acquire former Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson in free agency.
On that note, here is the latest news from around the NBA as of Dec. 22, 2022.
Kevin Durant not a fan of narrative surrounding Warriors' 2022 NBA title
Kevin Durant is not a fan of how the 2022 NBA Finals became about him, despite him not being involved. Durant’s former team, the Golden State Warriors, won the 2022 championship. This came after Durant left the franchise in 2019 following back-to-back titles with Golden State in 2017 and 2018.
Durant was accused of riding the coattails of an already-established championship team during his time with the Warriors. So when the Warriors won again without him in 2022, Durant once again had to deal with criticism from fans and media members.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Durant explained what this experience was like for him:
“I can’t lie: Watching the Finals, I knew so many people would turn their focus on me once they won. I was like, I hate that they won, because y’all not going to make it about them; it’s going to be all about me.”
He continued:
“I think it’s just a childish way of looking at that experience. I feel like you can take it all in and appreciate what they did and not even talk about me. I was just sitting at home. But I get how it is."
Despite receiving constant criticism, Durant is still one of the premier players in the league even at age 34. Durant is averaging 30.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game on 56.4% shooting. He has also led Brooklyn to seven straight wins and the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 20-12.
For Durant's full interview with The Washington Post, click here.
Steve Kerr speaks about Kevin Durant's recent success in Brooklyn
Kevin Durant’s former coach at Golden State, Steve Kerr, was also asked to speak about Durant’s recent success in Brooklyn. This came ahead of the Warriors' 143-113 blowout loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday night. Kerr explained that Durant is still the same dominant player that he was during his time with the Warriors.
Kerr said:
“He's been one of the best players in the league for a decade. Maybe more. So he's just one of the great scorers of all time, He's a phenomenal shooter, he can get any shot he wants. He's the same guy."
Kerr continued:
"So he doesn't look any different to me now than he did a few years ago when he was playing with us."
Kerr then spoke about how important it is to not take all-time great players like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry for granted:
"I think the guys who are truly great, historic players, guys who will be remembered forever, like Kevin, like Steph, sometimes you take them for granted just cause they’re great every single night."
He continued:
"So I know what Jacque (Vaughn) is saying. We expect Steph to be great every night. When I coached Kevin, I expected him to be great every night, and sometimes you need to stop and appreciate what you’re seeing because you’re looking at a couple of the greatest players of all time out there,"
Also read: Fans go berserk as Brooklyn Nets score 91 points in 1 half
NBA penalizes Knicks for tampering to acquire ex-Mavs guard Jalen Brunson
It was widely believed that there was some tampering involved in the New York Knicks’ quick free agency signing of former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson. This prompted the NBA to investigate the allegations. Following, the league’s investigation, the allegations were confirmed. The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Knicks will now have to surrender their 2025 second-round pick as punishment.
The following was released by the NBA. https://t.co/qBA7JnwKlo
Brunson is having a career year for New York, averaging 20.4 points, 6.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 46.1% shooting. Meanwhile, the Knicks are having one of their best seasons in years. They have a 18-14 record and are sixth in the Eastern Conference. So given the chance to go back in time, New York likely wouldn’t change a thing in regards to their pursuit of Brunson.
Also read: What are Jalen Brunson's contract details with the New York Knicks? All you need to know
Ja Morant not scared of any teams in the Western Conference
The Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors have had a budding rivalry in the Western Conference over the past couple of seasons. However, Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant doesn’t appear to be worried about the defending champs anymore or any other team out West.
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Morant was asked which team Memphis will need to get through to win an NBA title. Morant chose the Boston Celtics, who have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the entire NBA at 22-10, behind only Milwaukee.
Morant was then asked if there were any teams in the West that he was concerned about:
"Nah, I'm fine in the West."
Malika Andrews: "Who do you look at around the league as you're studying and say, 'We're gonna have to run through them?'"
Ja Morant: "Celtics"
MA: "No one in the West."
Ja: "Nah. I'm fine in the West." 👀
#NBATwitter https://t.co/dh4e5lF1AE
The Memphis Grizzlies are tied with Denver for the best record in the Western Conference at 19-11. Morant does have a reason to be confident in his team. However, his comments will likely only fuel his Western Conference rivals even more moving forward.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd fined $25K by NBA
Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday. This came after he came onto the court to confront an NBA official during the Mavs' 116-106 loss to Minnesota on Monday night. Kidd reportedly directed inappropriate language towards the official. He was then ejected for the incident after receiving two technicals with 2:00 left in the third quarter.
The decision to fine Kidd was announced by Joe Dumars, the NBA's executive vice president and head of basketball operations.
The following was released by the NBA. https://t.co/cMHXuFyM8r
As to whether that will prevent this from occurring in the future, that is a separate matter.