Kendrick Perkins shares ‘the largest issue’ why Kevin Durant left the Thunder

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Kevin Durant has been gone from the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder for a half-decade, and the 2 sides have moved on, nevertheless it looks like there are ceaselessly new tales about his time close to the top of the tenure.

Kendrick Perkins, who joined the Thunder close to the 2011 commerce deadline and performed there till that of 2015, shared a narrative on what he considers to be “the largest issue” on why Durant left OKC.

Whereas arguing about Russell Westbrook with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, Perkins mentioned Durant’s departure wasn’t about his celebrity teammate — it was about tradition that the star thought restricted him.

“I like (basic supervisor) Sam Presti, I like (former assistant supervisor) Troy Weaver. We all know that Sam Presti grew up below what group: the Spurs. They’ve a means of going about issues. They’re cool-headed, they’re all about tradition, they’re not about particular person success,” Perkins mentioned.

“When KD received MVP — I used to be there — Nike, that is info, Nike needed to place a big-sized poster of Kevin Durant on Chesapeake Area. They might not allow them to.”

Smith nodded. “Presti wouldn’t allow them to,” he mentioned.

“They might not let Kevin Durant model himself sufficient and market himself sufficient as a result of it was an excessive amount of about staff. And that performed the largest issue on why Kevin Durant left, as a result of he was uninterested in being below that tradition and that’s why after we noticed him get to Golden State, we noticed a special Kevin Durant. He began talking out extra freely, he began carrying himself a special means, as a result of he wasn’t capable of be that Kevin Durant in OKC.”

Perkins mentioned that although Durant and Westbrook “had their tough patches,” that isn’t uncommon for star teammates chasing championships — he had firsthand expertise seeing Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce do the identical with the Boston Celtics and LeBron James and Kevin Love achieve this with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Take this enter from Perkins and the acknowledgement from Smith as you’ll.

This submit initially appeared on OKCThunderWire. Comply with us on Fb!

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