Watch: Viral video shows Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal's stunned expressions to Luka Doncic trade during live game
Apparently, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal found out about the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade the same way that millions of NBA fans did. They read the news off their mobile phones.
Funnily enough, both Phoenix Suns stars found out while a game was still ongoing. To be specific, the Suns were taking on the Portland Trail Blazers when Durant and Beal were checking their phones on the Phoenix bench. Their reactions to the blockbuster deal were captured in a viral video:
The reactions on both players' faces are fascinating, to say the least. The viral video captures the moment in which Durant's jaw drops and Beal sits back in his chair in disbelief. After this, Durant turns to Beal, clearly wanting to engage in conversation about the news they just read. As one netizen pointed out on X, KD asked Beal a question out of incredulity:
"you can see him say 'what is Dallas doing?' LMAO," observed this netizen.
Durant's question can be interpreted on two levels. First, there's the incredible resume that Doncic has compiled while wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform: Rookie of the Year, five All-Star selections, the 2024 scoring title, and the 2024 Western Conference MVP award. Doncic's departure from Dallas marks the end of an incredibly prolific stint of a generational player.
Perhaps on a deeper level, Durant could be questioning why the Mavericks front office decided to part ways with a player that has remained loyal to the team for seven years. Notably, Dallas pulled off the trigger on this trade even as Doncic is recuperating from a calf injury that's kept him out of action since Christmas Day.
In any case, Durant and the rest of the Suns will be bracing themselves for two new-look teams: the Mavericks with a potent Kyrie Irving-Anthony Davis-Klay Thompson combination, and the Lakers with a fearsome Doncic-LeBron James tandem.
Kevin Durant claims that there's a double standard in the NBA when it comes to loyalty
After the Suns lost 127-108 to the Trail Blazers, Durant spoke with reporters about the Doncic-Davis trade. Interestingly, he weighed in on the matter of loyalty, a constant talking point within the NBA community:
"Players are held to a different standard of loyalty and commitment to a program, but the organizations don't get held to that same standard from the outside," said Durant.
Back in 2017, Durant's team loyalty was called into question when he walked away from Oklahoma City in free agency and joined the Golden State Warriors. As far as the issue of loyalty is concerned, KD has seen and heard it all in the NBA.