Stephen A. Smith Drops Truth Bomb on Knicks-Kevin Durant Drama

“The problem is that this is James Dolan we’re talking about and we know how petty he could be and we know what KD and Kyrie was supposed to do or really KD was supposed to do and what ended up not happening and we know how salty the Knicks were about that even before [team president] Leon Rose arrived and because of that residue, you’re looking at the New York Knicks now and you’re saying ‘Are you really making the best business decisions especially when they just fired [Tom] Thibodeau. You don’t even have a coach in place.

Smith cited the string of rejections the Knicks received from their poaching bid.

“This type of nonsense is reminiscent of what used to happen before Leon Rose and Worldwide Wes arrived that’s what’s alarming right now and that’s where this KD comment fall into play,” he added.

Kevin Durant Clarifies ‘Knicks Aren’t Cool’ Statement

Durant spurning the Knicks made him a Garden villain. But he put more fuel to the fire when he said “The Knicks aren’t cool” shortly after joining the Nets.

Durant clarified the five-year-old statement, saying he might have embellished it.

“At that time, the Knicks weren’t cool, but they are cool brand,” Durant explained last year in a sit-down talks with his business manager, Rich Kleiman on “Boardroom.” “Like when the Knicks are on right now. They’re popping. They’re probably well last few years.”

But when he weighed his decision during the 2019 free agency, he saw a floundering Knicks team with no stability. The Nets, on the other hand, were on the rise after making the playoffs the previous season.

“I’m not looking at the cool brand outside of the game,” Durant said. “I was looking at the team.  And the team was not cool to play for. The team was not cool to watch. It wasn’t a good team to watch. I may have embellished it a little bit.

“But yeah, of course, the Knicks brand [is cool]. Like New York is New York. Living in New York made me truly realize that it’s the greatest city in the world.”