Kevin Durant called Kendrick Perkins his favorite teammate of all-time. Perkins was out ahead on Durant signing with the Nets.
Perkins, via Grady Duggan of KNBR
“I think people had speculation that the Knicks were actually the front runners, but they weren’t. In my opinion it was either Brooklyn or going back to Golden State. I asked Kevin what was the reason behind him ultimately choosing Brooklyn and he told me: ‘Perk you’re not stupid, you know why I chose Brooklyn man. Look at the organization and look at the direction they’re going in.’ I think this was probably in the works for at least a couple months now. At least with him and Kyrie and DeAndre Jordan.”
“I think win lose or draw, in my opinion, KD already had one foot out the door. I’ve said it a lot, coming into the season I think Golden State had the upper hand but as the season went on and the incident happened with him and Draymond, I don’t think Kevin really bounced back from it. Once again you have to applaud KD because he never came out in the media and bashed Draymond about the situation, he never even really responded to Draymond on the court. I think he handled it well as far as how he went out there and competed at a high level and put his body on the line for the Warriors. I don’t think he ever bounced back from those words.”
Like with Jay Williams, this is another case of someone close to Durant speaking for him. We shouldn’t assume Perkins is accurately conveying how Durant feels.
But Perkins’ connection to Durant adds credibility to this.
A reminder of what Draymond Green reportedly told Durant last November, roughly: You’re a bitch and you know you’re a bitch. We don’t need you. We won without you. Leave. It’s easy to see how that’d contribute to Durant feeling disrespected with the Warriors.
However, rumors of Durant leaving were gaining traction long before his spat with Green. This could be a way of scapegoating Green.
There’s still a lot to uncover about Durant’s unconventional exit from Golden State.
