Jan 8, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (7) warms up before playing the Miami Heat at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael Laughlin-Imagn Images / Michael Laughlin-Imagn Images
Kevin Durant appeared on the Out The Mud podcast and shared some thoughts about his stint with the Brooklyn Nets.
"I just wanted something new," he said about signing with the Nets. "A smaller vibe, a different vibe ... Brooklyn was [riding] with me, for sure. I liked it out there. I loved it out there."
Durant joined Brooklyn via a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2019 after three seasons with the Golden State Warriors. While in the Bay Area, he became a two-time NBA champion, but his stay with Golden State ended on somewhat of a sour note.
Durant wanted to say goodbye with a 'threepeat', he said on the podcast, but a ruptured right Achilles tendon suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals made that impossible. He told ESPN in April of this year that he thought at that moment that his career would never be the same.
After joining the Nets, Durant sat out the 2019-20 season to fully recover. His move to Brooklyn was punctuated with a change in jersey numbers. The iconic No. 35 was swapped for the No. 7, which can still be seen around Barclays Center to this day.
"I can't change my whole brand or my whole persona or whatever it is in a year, but I just wanted something new, something different," Durant said. "I had a new jersey on with Brooklyn, so I was like, 'Let me try a new number.'"
While wearing that fresh No. 7, Durant was a three-time all-star for Brooklyn. He averaged 28.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists as a Net -- and he wasn't the only superstar to come to the borough.
Kyrie Irving signed with the Nets in free agency in the same summer as Durant. James Harden then joined in January of 2021, forming the NBA's newest superteam. However, Brooklyn barely got to see that triumvirate at full strength. They only played in 16 games together due to a combination of Durant's Achilles injury when he first joined the team, Irving's inability to play because of New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and Harden's own injury issues.
The Nets' big three has widely been derided since then, but Durant said on the Out The Mud podcast that "it looked great" when they were able to play together.
He said: "Injuries, COVID, all that stuff played a factor. But when you turn that film and watch us on the court together, it was some s--- you could teach a team. We put some good stuff on film."
Durant is now with the Phoenix Suns, who traded for him in February of 2023 in the exchange that sent Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, among other pieces, to the Nets. Bridges was eventually traded to the New York Knicks last summer in a blockbuster deal. Johnson remains with Brooklyn.
Durant will play against his old team next Wednesday, when the Nets host the Suns at Barclays Center. Brooklyn already faced Phoenix this season in November, with the Nets picking up an unlikely win behind 30 points from two-way swingman Tyrese Martin.