Kevin Durant acknowledged the Phoenix Suns have held some “heated conversations” internally amid a 15-15 start to the 2023-24 NBA season.
One such moment arose in Wednesday’s 129-113 victory over the Houston Rockets, with Durant, Devin Booker and others having what The Athletic’s Kelly Iko described as “an emotionally charged conversation between like-minded individuals.”
Durant thought it was merely part of a process.
“So, tonight, it was good for us to go through some stuff early in the game to have those heated conversations where we can be like ‘All right, this is what we’re both supposed to do,’ and come back into the locker room and talk it over again,” he said, per Iko.
“Sometimes, heated conversations are good for teams because you can be honest and real with one another, and then, you talk it over and move on. We’re all figuring it out. It’s hard with a new team, new group of guys, guys in and out of the lineup. You want to get comfortable with those conversations, and I think we’re on our way there.”
Of course, it’s impossible to separate those comments from both Phoenix’s record and a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown the Suns as an organization “can feel the frustration [from] Durant,” which stems partially from “the missed games for Brad Beal” and “the underwhelming supporting cast.”
Durant pushed back on the report in a since-deleted Instagram post (warning: image contains profanity):
Kevin Durant has responded to the Woj report via IG.
Does this calm any concerns you had about KD? pic.twitter.com/rcqRyl1EK5
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) December 27, 2023
Every single championship winner experiences adversity in some form, and impassioned dialogue can undoubtedly be beneficial toward resolving any issues on the court or inside the locker room.
But frank conversations don’t always do the job; otherwise, players-only meetings would be considered a much more productive exercise than a sign of impending doom.
Public clashes between teammates can also point toward what are larger schisms behind the scenes, with Durant’s 2018 argument on the bench with then-Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green one example.
The rest of the season will largely determine how the discussions referenced by Durant are framed.
Should the Suns right the ship and make a deep run in the playoffs, this part of the year will likely be cited as a time when they hit rock bottom and came out on the other side. If the struggles continue and Phoenix falls well short of its goal, then the team’s critics will say the warning signs were there all along.