Suns GM faces backlash for bizarre claims about Kevin Durant
Apparently the Thunder, Warriors and Nets — the three teams Kevin Durant played for before his stop in Phoenix — did not maximize his otherworldly talents.
That's the opinion of Suns GM James Jones.
During the Suns' season-ending press conference on Wednesday, Jones declared that his franchise will be the first to utilize Durant to the best of his abilities.
"A constant focus for us is to figure out how to maximize Kevin Durant," Jones said of his team's offseason priority. "No one's done it yet. I believe we'll be the first team to do it. Because [if] we can maximize him, we can maximize our entire roster, and we're a better team."
Jones admitted that the Suns "couldn't get on the same page" in the 2023-24 season and "ran out of time" when they figured out where Durant wasn't being utilized properly — something a report from The Athletic alluded to after the Suns were swept by the Timberwolves.
The strange comments led Andre Iguodala, a former teammate of Durant, to respond via social media with a photo of the two celebrating one of their two championships together. While Iguodala didn't respond from his own X account, he posed the following question through the account of the "Point Forward" podcast that he co-hosts with former NBA player Evan Turner.
Others on social media have also been calling out Jones for his comments.
Some believe Jones was referring to Durant's last stop in Brooklyn, which ended in a disaster with the star forward requesting a trade after a reported falling out with the franchise. Because there's simply no way he could be referring to the Warriors or Thunder, where Durant enjoyed great success.
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