Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry spoke to his former teammate, current Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, about a potential reunion ahead of the 2025 NBA trade deadline, according to ESPN. During that conversation, Durant indicated his disinterest in returning to the Bay Area, saying it didn’t “feel right.”
For weeks leading up to the Feb. 6 deadline, the Suns had been extremely active in canvassing the league for a team that might have been willing to take Bradley Beal. As the cut-off point neared, they began to discuss possible deals involving Durant as well.
“There was a trade sort of in place between Golden State, Phoenix and Miami that would have returned Kevin Durant to Golden State, but Durant stepped up and made it known he did not want a reunion,” Brian Windhorst reported on Feb. 6. “But it is amazing to think this was close to being Jimmy Butler in Phoenix and Kevin Durant in Golden State.”
Kevin Durant addresses trade deadline, future with Suns: ‘Everybody is bought and sold in this league’
James Herbert
Instead, the Warriors pivoted and ultimately acquired Butler themselves as part of a massive five-team deal that sent Andrew Wiggins to the Heat and also involved the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz.
Curry told ESPN that he has “no hard feelings, no resentment” about Durant wanting to stay in Phoenix.
“You need everybody to be all bought in no matter what the history you have,” Curry said. “And I respect KD. It’s all about having peace of mind and happiness.
“Neither one of us controlled that [trade] situation. It’s just you want to make sure somebody wants to be somewhere. Other than that, I’m not trying to convince anybody to be somewhere they don’t want to be.”
The budding stars will be paired up again this weekend on one of the three teams of NBA All-Stars that will compete Sunday at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Before the Warriors moved to their new digs in 2019, Durant and Curry won NBA titles together in 2017 and 2018.
It’s no secret that Durant did not leave Golden State on the best terms. During his final season with the team, he had a public feud with Draymond Green and tore his Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Furthermore, Durant was heavily criticized for his decision to join the Warriors in 2016 and never received full credit for the team’s success while he was there.
Given everything that transpired during his three eventful seasons in the Bay Area, it makes sense that Durant doesn’t want to reopen that chapter of his career. Even Warriors coach Steve Kerr agreed.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Kerr said. “He took so much s— for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon’ [when he signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2016]. And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized.
“So why would he want to face all that B.S. again?”
