When Kevin Durant chose the Golden State Warriors in free agency, many people around basketball were surprised — even his future Warriors teammates. But, in reality, it’s not like it came out of no where considering there were less than a handful of teams that Durant was even considering seriously as possible destinations.
As we know now, the Los Angeles Lakers were not among those considerations. Though the Lakers were strongly interested in adding Durant — especially since they need a new face of the franchise following Kobe’s retirement — that interest was not mutual, as Durant refused to even meet with the team’s front office.
This week, Durant explained why to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
“Nothing against the Lakers, but I already had my mind set on who I wanted to talk to,” Durant said following practice with the U.S. Olympic team on Monday at UNLV. “I really respect their team. I just thought they were a couple years away from where I wanted to be.”
Nothing personal, just not a good fit for what Durant was in the market for.
Though the Lakers and their fans are likely disappointed with the fact that Durant didn’t give them a chance, it’s also completely fair for Durant to not want to waste his time on a meeting he doesn’t think will go anywhere.
For Lakers fans, at least they can take solace in the fact that it wasn’t a clashing ego in the locker room or an ineffective sales pitch that kept this latest marquee free agent away.
(Via Inside SoCal)
