Kevin Durant will remain with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets this upcoming season, the team said Tuesday.
The announcement comes after a couple disappointing seasons from the talent-packed Nets and a summer-long uncertainty about Durant’s and fellow star Kyrie Irving’s futures with the team.
The Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Reports of Durant potentially being traded to Boston and Memphis circulated as recently as Monday.
“We have agreed to move forward with our partnership,” read a Twitter statement from Sean Marks, the Nets’ general manager. “We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”
Marks, coach Steve Nash and owners Joe and Clare Wu Tsai met with Durant and his manager Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles on Monday to make the agreement, according to the team. Durant, a two-time NBA champion and former MVP, has four years on his contract.
NBC Sports reported that both Durant and Irving were unhappy with Nash and Marks’ leadership with the team, partially due to Marks not giving the unvaccinated Irving a long-term contract extension.
The Nets also plan to keep Irving for this upcoming season, according to NBC Sports. The Athletic’s Shams Chania said that Irving has been working out with teammates and holding constructive dialogue with the organization.
The Nets play their season opener Oct. 19 in Brooklyn, against the New Orleans Pelicans.
