Kevin Durant Says 'Everything Had to Work Perfect' for Suns to Win During His Tenure

Kevin Durant reflected on his tenure with the Phoenix Suns as he prepares to enter his first season as a member of the Houston Rockets.

"In Phoenix, everything had to work perfect for us," Durant told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix. "I felt like when we played well, we could compete with anybody in the league. But the great teams, they could make a couple of mistakes and their talent from top to bottom could mask that a little bit.

"We didn't have that type of room for error. And that was a little frustrating. It's not a bad place to be. I felt like we had a chance every night with the talent that we had, but I wish we had a little bit more room for mistakes. If you turn it over here, give up a rebound there—we couldn't allow that at all in Phoenix, so that was tough to deal with."

Durant came to the Suns in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the 2022-23 season.

Phoenix advanced to the second round of the playoffs following the swap and was expected to remain a top contender in the Western Conference after acquiring Bradley Beal in a trade with the Washington Wizards during the 2023 offseason.

Durant, Beal and Devin Booker were an intriguing offensive trio when healthy, but that wasn't often. They all appeared in the same game just 41 times during the 2023-24 season and shared the court a mere 37 times during their 2024-25 campaign.

Phoenix also dealt with depth issues and couldn't make up for the absences from its stars, ranking No. 20 in bench scoring last season (via NBA.com).

The Suns attempted to trade Durant during their 2024-25 campaign, but a deal never came to fruition ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline. Once the offseason arrived, he was sent to Houston as part of a seven-team deal on June 22.

Durant won't have to wait too long to visit his old stomping grounds, as the Rockets travel to face the Suns on Nov. 24.