Kevin Durant is going viral (once again) for supposed comments that he made from a burner social media account. All of the comments Durant made seem destined to drive a wedge between him and his teammates. These are the sorts of moments when New York Knicks fans should be thrilled to have Jalen Brunson as their franchise player.
By all accounts, and especially by the way Brunson acts online, he has a great relationship with his teammates. Obviously, his relationship with Josh Hart is the strongest, as the two host a podcast together, but he seems to get along well with everyone.
Obviously, everyone gets upset in the heat of the moment. Tensions rise in the middle of games. But all in all, Brunson and his teammates get along well.
Kevin Durant comments should make Knicks fans appreciate Jalen Brunson
There were a ton of messages that were made public. There is no guarantee that the burner is Durant’s, but it seems pretty likely, based on a variety of factors.
Everything put online made it seem pretty obvious that Durant was the one behind the messages, and he looked suspicious at All-Star Weekend, too.
Durant spent most of his time obsessing over his cell phone, constantly texting and checking his messages. It made it seem like he was doing everything he could to do damage control.
The Houston Rockets star made fun of Alperen Sengun, his fellow All-Star in Houston. He also had some mean words to say about Jabari Smith Jr., who is also his current teammate.
On top of that, Durant said stuff about Devin Booker, Frank Vogel (his former coach), James Harden, Ben Simmons, and Stephen Curry. It was a messy, messy series of messages. The sort of thing that could get in the way of winning.
New York doesn’t have to deal with that. In fact, they kind of have the luxury of having the opposite. Brunson seems like an ideal guy to be leading a franchise.
Brunson and Hart’s friendship is rock solid. He and Mikal Bridges obviously have a history from their time playing in college, so they’re close, too. And he seems to have bonded with everyone else on the team, too.
When a team is trying to win a championship, chemistry is one of the most underrated factors. And having the right guy steering the ship is extremely important.
Durant’s comments could definitely get in the way of Houston’s title pursuit. The Knicks don’t have to worry about that with Brunson.