With nothing else going on in the NBA world as we still await the full schedule release, most all of the talk in basketball circles is about the future of Kevin Durant. The problem is, there’s not been any movement on that front for awhile, with things stalled out in this dead period.
That means we get a lot of speculation and rumors from third parties, which can lead to headlines like “Kevin Durant could retire before playing for the Nets again.” Those headlines came from aggregations of Marc Stein’s latest newsletter than simply rehashed some things he’d heard from people around the league who were simply indicating how serious Durant was about his trade request, not an actual report this was on Durant’s mind.
However, because we are all wandering aimlessly through this content desert, some fell for the mirage thinking it was an oasis and jumped on the chance to do something. The result was Durant, who has not been willing to speak publicly about much of anything regarding his request, finally breaking his silence on the situation to shoot down the “comical” rumor and make sure no one believed he was retiring any time soon.
I know most people will believe unnamed sources over me but if it’s anyone out there that’ll listen, I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon. Shit is comical at this point.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 15, 2022
It’s pretty funny that Durant would have to say that, but there’s enough people willing to take that anecdote at face value that it had to be said. The trade request situation (and alleged ultimatum laid down) still roll along and it’s possible that Durant has to ramp things up on his end come training camp, but that’s still over a month away and would simply involve him no-showing and taking the fines, not threatening to retire while starting a 4-year deal.