Kevin Durant Burner Saga Reportedly Didn't Bother Rockets Players Despite 'Distraction' Rumors

While the Kevin Durant burner saga made plenty of headlines surrounding the Houston Rockets this season, the latest reporting suggests his teammates weren't particularly bothered by the situation.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon reported Monday the team took the posts that circulated around the All-Star break "seriously and proceeded under the assumption that Durant was at least associated with them."

It reached a point that the future Hall of Famer himself addressed the situation with his teammates in what was described as "more of a team discussion than a meeting" that eventually "moved on to other issues that had been simmering within the team throughout the first half of the season."

One Rockets source told Shelburne and MacMahon, "I've heard that there were a couple people who were bothered by what he said on the burner account but none of them were in our locker room. I think Kevin might've been worried about it being a distraction to the team. But literally no one cared about it. The guys [he] mentioned are not sensitive about stuff said about them online."

Shelburne and MacMahon explained that leaked direct messages became public with one social media account that was allegedly tied to Durant criticizing Alperen Şengün and Jabari Smith Jr. Other messages referenced some of his former teammates Stephen Curry and Devin Booker, as well as his former coach Steve Kerr.

The Rockets source added "good things came out of both those discussions" because players "got s--t off their chest."

Durant publicly addressed the situation in February and said "I'm not here to get into Twitter nonsense."

This comes after The Athletic's William Guillory and Sam Amick reported the burner situation remained a "significant distraction" that was "never truly resolved internally."

The Athletic reported it was not clear if Durant told teammates the account was his, while players "agreed to keep the matter in-house while focusing on basketball."

ESPN's Tim MacMahon also talked about it on Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective (beginning at the 1:03:10 mark) and said, "Look, that was, there was a discussion had among the players and they moved on from it, is what I was told. But like that's part of the KD when I say there's been an emotional roller coaster with KD this season. That's obviously a big part of it."

A season that once had elevated expectations in Houston ended in disappointment with a first-round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Durant was sidelined for all but one of the six games, which put more of the offensive onus on Şengün. The big man did what he could by averaging a double-double of 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, but it was not enough to outlast LeBron James and the Lakers.

Perhaps a deep playoff run could have overshadowed the burner situation, but it is now being resurfaced as fans and commentators look back on Houston's season as a whole following the disappointing exit.