Things have not been going well for the Phoenix Suns. An interaction between star Kevin Durant and coach Mike Budenholzer probably won’t lower the temperature in the desert anytime soon.
Durant was captured by TNT’s broadcast ripping his arm away from Budenholzer after the coach had grabbed it as Durant came to the bench after a first-half timeout during Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Cippers. Durant then turned back toward the coach and he and Budenholzer continued to converse.
Footage shared by Cameron Cox of NBC 12 showed that later in the timeout Durant approached Budenholzer to talk further in an exchange that appeared far more cordial.
TNT’s broadcast indicated their discussion was related to a miscommunication Phoenix had during an offensive set.
The Suns actually led 30-24 after the first quarter, but things unraveled for them in the second frame as the Clippers outscored them 41-19. Phoenix did the dominating in the fourth quarter, though. After falling behind by 23 points, the Suns roared back. They outscored the Clippers 43-22 in the final 12 minutes to win 119-117. Durant finished with a team-high 34 points.
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Budenholzer, who won a championship in 2021 as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, is in his first season in Phoenix. Despite Tuesday’s historic win, it’s been a disappointing campaign. The Suns are 29-33 and sit outside of a play-in spot, three games behind the 10th-place Dallas Mavericks.
Can the Suns chase down the Mavs, who will now be without Kyrie Irving? Even if they do, hard feelings may linger between Durant and the team — the Suns reportedly explored trading Durant ahead of last month’s deadline. (A potential deal with the Golden State Warriors fell apart late in the proceedings.)
All that’s to say, the situation seems … volatile.
What they said after the game
Budenholzer downplayed the incident after the game and credited Durant’s energy and leadership for helping spur the comeback.
‘He wanted something, I wanted something. That’s the beauty of basketball,’ Budenholzer said of the incident.
Budenholzer said from that moment on Durant’s ‘voice, him talking — feedback, ideas, suggestions — was really a big part of the night.’
Durant hit back at the ‘narrative’ that he and his coach have issues.
‘That’s what usually happens when you don’t know the dynamics of a relationship, you know? You catch something on TV, you get a quote and now you’re pushing that narrative as if me and Bud don’t do (stuff) all the time,’ Durant said. ‘We’re competitive as two individuals who want to see things done the right way. Sometimes my way ain’t the way that Bud want to do it, and vice versa. He allows me as a player on the team, a veteran on the team, to voice my opinion. If we both didn’t care, we would never have stuff like that. You know what I’m saying?’
‘I’m glad that the win is going to sweep all of that stupid stuff under the rug because people couldn’t wait — even some people in Phoenix, in here, couldn’t wait to run with that,’ Durant added. ‘You know, say ‘Oh, this is the reason why the team ain’t playing well because of that specific thing.’ But come on, man. That shows that me and Bud really care about trying to right the ship, trying to win basketball games.
‘He understands where I’m coming from, I understand exactly where he’s coming from. It’s just the people on the outside don’t know the dynamics of the relationship. In order for them to get some attention they’re going to run with stuff like that.’
This story has been updated with new information.
