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‘Lazy’ reporting: KD slams ‘toxic’ claim | 00:53
NBA superstar Kevin Durant has rubbished reports of a toxic feeling inside the Phoenix Suns’ locker room, singling out a reporter by name in his scathing response.
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Prior to last Friday’s trade deadline, it was reported Durant shut down a potential return to the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne recently spoke on NBA Today about the post-deadline state of the Suns, stating: “The word I would use … I’ll use toxic. That shootaround yesterday I heard was very awkward, very weird in Oklahoma City, because everybody was on pins and needles wondering what they were going to do (at the trade deadline).
“Now you have this reset where, how do you move forward as a team when there was a clear mandate here that they have to do something? And if they’re not able to get anything done, which as we say, you talked about it in the open, it’s really hard to do something.
“The thing they were trying to do did not come to fruition because Kevin Durant said no. It’s hard to move forward and I think that’s where they’re left.”
Durant issued his response in assertive fashion.
“Yeah, I heard Ramona Shelburne come out and say our locker room is toxic,” Durant told reporters on Tuesday (AEDT).
“I try to tell people who aren’t around this game much that it’s easy to say our locker room is not connected when you come in there 45 minutes before and guys are in their game mode and not talking to each other.
“Four or five guys might be in the training room, a few guys might be in the weight room. It’s not a welcoming environment right before the game. That’s part of getting ready to play.
“I think it’s unfair and lazy to categorise our team as toxic when you come in there for five minutes throughout four months.
“That’s the only time you’ve been in our locker room and then you can make a narrative. I don’t think that’s fair to us, but like I said, that’s a part of the game. Part of the business we signed up for.
“S*** is not fair in this game, but we got to deal with it and accept it.”
The 26-26 Suns stood pat at the deadline, watching Jimmy Butler land at the Warriors despite being strongly linked with the All-Star forward in recent months.
