After news of Durant’s trade request broke, Wojnarowski took to SportsCenter Thursday night to share his thoughts on what led to Durant’s decision. “Golden State winning the championship this season and just the flood of criticism and second-guessing that came at Kevin Durant, I think it contributed to a tipping point,” Wojnarowski said. (h/t @GSWdelivery)pic.twitter.com/rrWDQO8mLY — Teacher (@DrGuru_) July 1, 2022 After the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in six games, there was indeed a flood of criticism for Durant and his legacy. Many pundits questioned the legitimacy of his two rings, which both came with the Warriors. “[Durant]He should win a championship as a bus driver,” said former NBA MVP and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley. “He was involved in it [Warriors] team that has already won a championship, so no disrespect, that’s just a fact. So until he’s the guy on a championship team, we’re not going to show him the respect that he probably deserves and that’s the way it is.” Durant, who signed with the Golden State Warriors after they finished the 2015-16 NBA season with a historic 73-9 record and bounced Durant’s Thunder into the playoffs before falling in the Finals, did not take kindly to Barkley’s words. “This is all bad, another terrible analogy from a half-assed head who can’t accept that we make more bread than them,” Durant responded in a tweet. “Chucky’s just timing, don’t hate the playa.” All this shit is ugly, another terrible analogy from an old head who can’t accept that we make more bread than them. Just timing Chucky don’t hate the playa https://t.co/43BWSuijjV — Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 20, 2022 Other people were even more outspoken in their criticism, tweeting things like “The Splash Bros really didn’t need a Kevin Durant to win more rings” and “Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors. When do Durant’s ‘rings’ melt?” One fan reduced Durant to “the guy between Harrison Barnes and Andrew Wiggins,” to which the NBA superstar responded by playing the dunk. I’ve been dead since July 4th 2016, but kudos to the compilers and my boy Steezy, a Fillmore legend, he’s been waiting his whole life for a street market parade. https://t.co/LXtyvu7BwB — Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 17, 2022 Durant has a history of battling online criticism, even turning to a burn account at times to deal with the hate. This time, though, it seems his solution was a trade request. The former NBA MVP had other reasons, including alleged frustrations with the Nets’ front office, but TV interviewers and random fans also reportedly contributed to the trade request being entertaining, if not terribly surprising.
