Kevin Durant Says Treatment by Media During Warriors Tenure Was 'Unprofessional'

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has at times had a contentious relationship with the media, and he recently opened up about how the coverage of his time with the Golden State Warriors affected him. 

While speaking to The Ringer's Logan Murdock, Durant reflected on his three years with the Warriors and admitted that he still holds some ill feelings over how he was portrayed. He pointed to the media's coverage of his impending free agency in his final year as a key reason for his contempt. 

"I thought it was unfair to me and the whole group to even think about anything that was going to happen after the year," Durant said. "It was unprofessional, in my opinion."

When he left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Warriors after losing to them in the Western Conference Finals, Durant said his intention was to assimilate into Golden State's culture. He didn't want to outshine anyone else on the roster and rather had hoped to simply blend in as they pursued a championship.

But Durant said he felt that the media singled him out continuously, portraying the team as "KD and the Warriors."

"I was expecting—and maybe that’s my fault—I was expecting the beat writers, whoever was on the beat there, whoever covered the team, to integrate me into the Warriors’ way of doing things,” he said. “Because I never tried to step outside of that and make that situation bigger and make it all about me. I just felt like I wanted to be a part of the group. There were plenty of times where obviously when it comes to media, I was separated from the group."

Durant won back-to-back titles in Golden State in 2017 and 2018 and was named NBA Finals MVP in both years. The pursuit of a third championship was derailed by a torn Achilles suffered during the 2019 Finals series against the Toronto Raptors. He signed with the Nets that offseason.

Brooklyn is 40-36 and eighth in the Eastern Conference with six games left in the regular season. If Durant is able to help lead the team out of the play-in tournament, the Nets will be a dangerous team in the playoffs.