Kevin Durant rips Kendrick Perkins on Instagram after stunning Nets trade
Kevin Durant is changing teams — but not the way he acts on social media.
On Thursday, the same day the Nets traded Durant to the Suns in a blockbuster move ahead of the league’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, NBA veteran Etan Thomas remarked how Brooklyn supporters “should be livid” at the organization’s front office in the wake of recent events, which included Kyrie Irving being shipped to the Mavericks last weekend.
“I’m no GM, but if you have KD, Kyrie, and James Harden, and you end up trading all 3 but don’t get back any all stars in return, you have failed as an organization,” Thomas posted on social media.
“#BrooklynNets fans should be livid at [owner] #JoeTsai and [general manager] #Sean Marks.”
Kendrick Perkins, a former player turned ESPN analyst, then told Thomas in the comments section that he “respectfully” disagreed, alleging Durant and Irving were running the show behind the scenes.
“I respectfully disagree!!!! Player empowerment? KD and Kyrie made all the decisions and over there,” Perkins responded Thursday morning.
Durant caught wind of Perkins’ comments and remarked that his former teammate on the Thunder “make[s] a living lying.”
“Have some honor homie,” Durant, who is renowned for his social media feuds, wrote underneath Perkins’ comment.
Shortly before Durant was dealt from the Nets, Perkins suggested the 34-year-old Durant should push his way out of Brooklyn.
“Hell no,” Perkins replied in the clip. “A matter fact, I’m talking to Sean Marks and I’ve got Rich Kleiman [Durant’s manager] on the line right now to get me out.”
Perkins not only re-shared the clip on Twitter in the early hours of Thursday morning, but he also reacted to the Instagram back-and-forth with Durant, tweeting to a follower: “I see his ass asked for a trade!!!”
It’s been a wild 12 months in Brooklyn, beginning last February, when Harden was dealt to the Sixers and the Nets received Ben Simmons in return.
Irving’s tumultuous tenure with the Nets ended on Sunday, two days after he demanded a trade.
Durant, who joined the Nets along with Irving as free agents in 2019, is now headed west, with the Nets receiving a bounty of first-round draft picks along with Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder, who has since been acquired by the Bucks.