 S. S. Training Center in Brooklyn, New York, a special yes network presentation. It is Nets Media Day in Brooklyn. Ryan Rucco, Sarah Kustak with you live until 1 PM, maybe a little bit longer as well, depending on how the afternoon plays out. You will hear from all the key players, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Sean Marks. Many will be stopping by here as well. Of course, everybody excited about what's to come this season, but there are a lot of questions still to be answered after a wild offseason. And for the start of those answers, we go to the podium to Kevin Durant right now. Kevin, good to see you. If you just want to start off kind of giving us your mindset from when we last spoke to you, we have the Celtic series ended and what played into your decision to put the trade request in and ultimately rescind it? Well, there was a lot of uncertainty around our team last year. I committed to this organization for four years last summer with the idea that we was going to play with that group that we kind of went on that little round with the second round with. I felt like another year that us being healthy, we were building something towards the future. Then as the season went on, you know, you've seen what happened with our season, guys in and out to line up, injuries, just a lot of uncertainty which built some doubt in my mind about the next four years of my career. I mean, I'm getting older and I want to be in a place that's stable and trying to build a championship culture. So I had some doubts about that and I voiced in the jail and we moved forward from there. But in my mind, I did like what we did with Sean put together this summer with the team. I knew that with all the adversity that we had and a lot of failures that we had as a team last year, guys are going to be working to get better and be better and not make that a trend. So in the back of my mind, I was still there and I had conversations with Steve and Joe, Claire and Sean and, you know, we came to a mutual agreement that we should keep moving forward. Hey, Kevin. Twofold, what did Joe say that kind of put your mind at ease or convinced you that you guys were headed in the right direction and did you feel the need to kind of air things out with Steve and Sean specifically to make sure that they knew that you're actually behind them? Yeah, I mean, they know me, you know. They understood where I was coming from. They, you know, I had plenty of talks with Steve and Sean throughout the season about how I was feeling and what I felt we needed to change as a team and as an organization and where I see my career. And we had plenty of conversations. So they know me, you know. So they know how much I care about the game of basketball my teammates and wanting to win. So we all jumped on the same page. It was pretty simple. We're professionals. We're, you know, we got to, you know, we know how to adapt and move forward. So I think that's really what it was. Hey, Kevin, as you do try and build, you know, winning franchise going forward, do you worry about now, you know, in a span of a few months, James Harden wanted to leave. It looked like you wanted to leave. That guys on the outside are going to maybe wonder sort of, you know, what's wrong there that the top, top level players don't want to be there. What guys are you talking about? No, I'm wondering about if, if from the outside, players might look at this and say, what players? I'm just saying, I mean, who knows? I mean, we got some good guys here that chose to come here this summer. So, I mean, I guess they, it didn't matter to them that much. So we got, you know, just got Marquis Morris who made a decision with a couple of teams, one of him and he chose us. So I guess it didn't make that big of an impact. But we know how the NBA is. It's a business and, you know, once you have businesses involved, sometimes you may have disagreements, relationships, you know, may hit a halt and you may hit a fork in the road. You got to figure out, but at the end of the day, you know, people understand what I bring to the court, what we bring to the court, the players on this team and they've seen us, they played against us and coached against us. So they understand how we play the game of basketball, all that other stuff, you know, we'll figure out. That's just the nature of the NBA at this point. Kevin, over the summer when everything was playing out, were you disappointed that you weren't traded? No. Not disappointed. I can't be, I'm not disappointed. I mean, I'm doing what I love to do first of all. So if I'm looking at it from that lens, no, I'm not disappointed, you know. I felt like either option, I mean, coming here still had a great team. But now I wasn't disappointed. I still love to play. I knew that wasn't going to be affected, you know. Regardless of what happened in the summer, I was not going to let it affect the work that needs to be put out on the court when it's time. So, you know, that's what I lean on just having fun playing ball. And I knew that's one thing that wasn't going to stop regardless. Kevin, just curious about, I understand like the season itself was disappointing the way it ended. But the talent here has never really been in doubt whether it was you, James and Kyrie or now you, Kyrie and Ben Simmons. So what was missing that raised so much doubt in your mind about your future here? And was any part of that Kyrie's contract situation? Not at all. I mean, I heard that talks about me not being upset about their contracts and them offering Kyrie. Always since day one, first of all, I never walk into any GM office or coach office that demand anything. Tell them to sign anybody or run a play for me or I come in and do my job as a player, which is to be coachable work as hard as I can and be available. So a lot of people got that in their minds is that I control everything here with the nets and only control my job. And my job is to be a player. And I felt like their relationship, they had to figure that out on their own. I'm not the liaison between Kyrie and the organization. And I always told them that. Always told Sean and Kyrie, I got to build your relationship how y'all do it. Because everybody is separate. Everybody is different. You approach each player differently. So I didn't want to get in between that. Whatever they negotiated, I had no talks in it. And I let them handle that. So my whole thing was I wanted everybody to be held accountable for their habits as a basketball player every day. And I think a lot of stuff was getting swept under the rub because we're injured or this guy's not around or just the circumstances. I thought we could have fought through that a little bit more and focused on the guys that were here a little bit more. You know, when I went out with the injury, we lost 10 in a row. And I'm like, we shouldn't be losing some of these games that we lost regardless of who on the floor. So I was more so worried about how we're approaching every day as a basketball team. And I felt like we could have fought through a lot of the stuff that I felt that held us back. And championship teams do that. You've seen that Steph Curry and the Warriors, he was injured going into the playoffs. Their team still, you know, fought in one games. Luca, he was hurt. Their team still fought in one games. And I felt like we had enough talent to do that. And that's what was a, you know, rose some doubt in my mind is that when adversity hit, can we keep pushing through it? And I've been on championship teams. I've been on teams that have been right at the brink of winning the championship. And they did those things. So I want to be a part of a group that did that. Winning and losing, I can take all of that. I've been in the league for a long time. So it's not more so about just the result. It's like how we get to that point. And I wasn't, I didn't, I wasn't feeling how we was getting to that point. And I didn't, I didn't want it to affect the game. So I waited till the off season to, you know, tell people how I feel. So Kevin, does your approach to the off season change depending on how you guys ended the season? I mean, it was a disappointed end to the season. So how did that inform what you did this off season in terms of personal work on the court? I mean, everything matters. Oh, you talk about personal. Oh, nothing, champ. I mean, you still work on all parts of my game. I mean, I've been at it for a while. So I figured I know what works out there for me. So this, mainly each summer, it's about who I'm going to get in the gym with, you know, if I'm going to be around high level talent all the time or I'm going to be around college guys. You know, so I wanted to be around the best of the best players. And I've been like that the last 10 years in my career. That's why I moved to Los Angeles because I want to be around the, you know, most of the best NBA players are there. So I work on my, you know, every aspect of my game, but I want to be amongst the best in the world, you know, when they are in their environment and their element as well outside the NBA. So it's only good for my development if I do that. Kevin, get a couple for you. First, are you surprised you're still here? No, I mean, I know I'm not good that you just not going to give me away. So that's one thing I did appreciate about Sean and Joe. It's like, yeah, you're too great for us to get you away. Just that easy, that simple. So, you know, I get that. I know who I am. And the second one is you said you're not the liaison between Kyrie and the organization, but now that you're still here, what gives you the confidence that he'll be a fully committed member of the team this year compared to the last couple of seasons? That first year, I mean, he played more games in me and James. So, I mean, you can say he was more reliable than us that first year. And last year, if it wasn't for the vaccine, man, he would have played. So it's not a vaccine mandate this year. And the year that I played with him before, he was very reliable. So once the mandate was gone, I figured he's going to be here every day and he loves to play. I mean, I shouldn't even have to say that. We all know that. Hey, Kevin, you mentioned there are some things that you felt the team could have thought through. Do you think that was an issue of game management, culture, or communication? It's just a matter of, like, team building. You know, just each guy, you know, coming together. I mean, I know it's hard, but I think we should, we could have, you know, fought through it, like I said, and did the hard thing, which is to continue to keep coming together, play, you know, winning basketball every single play. And, you know, I didn't like the fact that it's like, well, when KD come back, I was just like, well, I get it. I know I can affect the game so much, but, like, what about these other guys that got an opportunity to, you know, maybe showcase what they can do, but also help the team in a different way? So when I come back, I can jump on their train and help them, you know, instead of them, you know, adapting to me again. So I just felt like that's what great teams do. You know, I've been a part of some great groups in regards to me being in line up or out, or not just me, any guy being in and out the lineup to train, keep going, you know. So I felt like we could have did that better. And Steve agreed with me, you know. So the stuff that I was saying wasn't like, we were all on different pages, whether we all agreed that we should be doing the same stuff. So, you know, you know. So I'm glad that we was able to talk through it. And we all figure out that, you know, that's what we need to do to be a forget the championship, to just be a good team, a respectable team. And I feel like we don't have any respect out there on the court. And that's what I want for us is respect amongst the NBA community as a team on how we play on both ends of the floor, from GM all the way down to the equipment manager. I want that respect. And I think that's what we do that, but how you work every single day. And we skip some steps on how we worked throughout that year last year because of the circumstances, vaccine mandates, people with disgruntled injuries. I felt like we could have just kept pressing forward. And that's what I try to do as a player. I'm not doing, I'm not preaching something that I don't practice. Like, I come in here, every rep matters to me. So I want everybody to feel the same way. Kevin, over here, to your left. Are you able today to provide assurance to net fans that if there is adversity at some point this season or in next off season, that you won't go back to management and ask for a trade again? I mean, net fans should know me after three years and the work I put in, like we've been through a lot as a team and I still go out there and do my job. So I don't feel like I got to prove anything to net fans after three years. And, you know, I'm committed to moving forward with this team. So if they got doubts, then I can't control that. That's on you. But you see me, you know what I do, you know how much I care about planning, you know how much I care about my teammates and this organization by what I've shown these last three years. So, you know, I just keep being me every day. And then some people won't like it. Some people not gonna like it, but they may come around to it. I mean, it is what it is. Katie, no disrespect to the people that were brought in this off season. Very good players there, but it's still the same structure, leadership, coaching, top players. A lot of the same role players are back. So what gives you the confidence that that group that didn't get it create that atmosphere you were looking for last year can do it this year? It is a year of growth and a year of us looking in the mirror of like we, you know, as a team, you know, and that only makes you better. You know, so I'm banking on that. I got faith in that. We got guys in this locker room that care. We got people in this organization that want to see this organization be as one of the prominent ones in sports. So I'm banking on that. We got, we got competitive people in this building. So yeah, I got faith that moving forward that we all want the same things, especially after, you know, a summer of us, you know, basically having to stand off, you know, that's only going to make us better and make us more competitive and want to go out there and show what we can do. Thank you, Kevin.