Suns’ Kevin Durant not interested in video tribute during return to Brooklyn
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It is unclear whether the Nets will give Kevin Durant a tribute video when he returns to Barclays Center on Wednesday. What is clear is that he doesn’t want one.
“Please don’t,” Durant tweeted Sunday afternoon. “The night will be better without it.”
The Nets host Durant’s Suns on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
In parts of three seasons with the Nets, Durant averaged 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists in just 129 games logged.
But after missing the entirety of his first season in Brooklyn rehabbing a ruptured Achilles, he saw his team lose in the second round in 2021 and suffer a first-round sweep the next year.
“What did I do to deserve [a video]?” Durant said to The Arizona Republic. “Seriously, or is it because of my name? I’m just another player, man. I don’t deserve none of this extra attention, everybody looking at me when the game starts. The game is about all the players on the court. It ain’t about me. I was there for three years, four years and we didn’t accomplish anything worth being celebrated for. That’s just how I feel.
“I don’t expect anything from anybody. I just want people to come and enjoy the game and come support the game of basketball. Whatever they do in between the time, then they do it, but I can’t control that.”
Durant said it wasn’t just a paucity of achievement in Brooklyn, but a lack of tenure.
“I wasn’t there long enough. Me and the fans didn’t connect enough for me to feel like a part of them,” Durant said. “That’s just my thoughts.”
Cam Thomas, who Durant took under his imposing wing in Brooklyn, said he thinks his mentor was just tweaking the Nets fans.
“KD just be trolling,” Thomas laughed. “You know how he do.”
Dorian Finney-Smith — still in a boot for a sprained left ankle — missed Monday’s 147-114 win over the Jazz and will sit out Wednesday against Phoenix. His status is up in the air for Saturday at Philadelphia.
Day’Ron Sharpe (hyperextended left knee) worked on court with coaches at Monday’s shootaround, but hasn’t been cleared for contact yet.
Lonnie Walker IV, who finished with 19 points in 27 minutes Monday, had his minutes limit “bumped up from his original minutes restriction,” according to coach Jacque Vaughn.
“My body feels great,” Walker said. “I’m putting extra time in as far as eating, sleeping, extra hour or two in the gym, staying hot/cold tub contrast, you name it.”
Rookie Dariq Whitehead underwent successful surgery Monday for the stress reaction in his left shin.
With an expected recovery period of approximately three months, he’s expected to make a complete recovery and be a full participant in the offseason development program and presumably Las Vegas Summer League.
The procedure was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery by Dr. Martin O’Malley.
“I can definitely say you never get used to it; it never gets easier, but definitely having to go through [rehab] before, I pretty much know what to expect and how to take care of my body the right way,” Whitehead, 19, told The Post.
“I talked to him [Monday]. He was in good spirits. He’ll stay at home [Monday], stay home [Tuesday]. The hope is that he is a full participant in our offseason development,” Vaughn said.
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