Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash says he is cleared the air with Kevin Durant after tumultuous summer season

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash needs to make it clear that his relationship with star ahead Kevin Durant is “good” heading into the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

That assertion comes following a tumultuous summer season for the group during which Durant requested for a commerce, then requested for Nash and GM Sean Marks to be fired.

“We’re wonderful,” Nash mentioned after the Nets’ first official observe of the season on Tuesday. “We’re good. Ever since we talked, it has been like nothing’s modified. I’ve an extended historical past with Kevin. I really like the man. Households have points. We had a second and it is behind us. That is what occurs. It is a frequent state of affairs within the league.

“All of us have been hurting, seething, to undergo what we went by final yr, not having the ability to overcome all that adversity. Typically you lose perspective since you anticipate to win, however the actuality is we have been in a position to discuss and talk about what we will enhance on from final yr. And likewise hold perspective. We went by a ton of stuff.”

Nash, who developed a bond with Durant throughout their shared time with the Golden State Warriors, pushed again on reviews that the star requested for him to be fired.

“I by no means thought that was 100%,” Nash mentioned. “There was lots of issues. It is not black and white like that, so there was lots of components. Loads of issues behind the scenes. Loads of issues reported usually are not correct. Loads of issues which are reported usually are not 100% correct. So that you get fragmented bits of fact. You get issues which are flat out not true. It occurs. … So I by no means actually get caught up in all that stuff.

“I will hear it from Kevin when the time is correct. I will discuss to Sean, I will discuss to all of the events concerned. So that you simply work by it step-by-step. You do not overreact. We keep calm and work on communication and information and right here we’re.”

Nash mentioned the air was cleared throughout a gathering with Durant, Marks and Nets homeowners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai final month in Los Angeles. On the time, Marks issued an announcement saying the Nets wished to “transfer ahead” with Durant, who nonetheless has 4 years remaining on a max contract he signed final yr.

Nash declined to specify what he mentioned to Durant that helped clear the air.

“That is a personal dialog, so I am not going to get into it,” Nash mentioned. “Nevertheless it was a possibility for us to simply clear the air and talk. It was fairly simple, it did not take lots of time, and we bought to the underside of it and determined to maneuver ahead.”

Nash mentioned he wasn’t bothered by the hypothesis that, at occasions, appeared to eat the basketball world over the summer season concerning his staff — and his star participant.

“Realizing Kevin so long as I’ve, it did not actually trouble me the best way possibly everybody would assume,” Nash mentioned. “That is part of being a competitor. I wasn’t overly stunned and I wasn’t even overly involved. That is one thing that I assumed we’d handle in time and we did and right here we’re and we’re wanting ahead.

“I believe there’s one thing on this that we will all develop from as nicely. Typically when issues like that occur, the surface world makes a giant deal of it, from the within we take it as a possibility for progress.”

Nash wished to maintain the give attention to the Nets’ future as a substitute of rehashing the drama of this previous summer season.

“I believe we’re in a very good place to begin the season,” Nash mentioned. “And whatever the means everybody needs to speak about drama on a regular basis, we have been by this. I performed within the league for 17, 18 years. I am in right here now, yr three [as coach], seen all of it, carried out all of it. It doesn’t impression me the best way possibly it impacts folks on the road or within the media, so it was by no means actually as a giant a deal to me.

“I at all times thought we would have our second, we would talk about it and we might select a course and we’re lucky to all be within the health club working collectively once more and excited. I believe the power’s been excellent.”

Apart from the notion that he felt any perceived points with Durant have been overblown, Nash stays steadfast in his perception that they’ll keep on the identical web page due to his feeling that there is not as a lot stress behind the scenes as there was on the finish of final season.

“You do not begin the yr pondering you are going to undergo the identical quantity of adversity as we now have the final two years,” Nash mentioned. “In order that was the key ingredient in all this was that we now have expectations, we now have opponents, and we simply confronted an excessive amount of to beat final yr.”

One of many different causes Nash and the Nets are feeling optimistic firstly of camp is as a result of Ben Simmons is a full participant after lacking all of final season due to again surgical procedure and psychological well being issues.

“Ben seemed nice,” Nash mentioned. “Ben’s been doing very well. He is put within the time this summer season and he is regularly getting higher each week so it appears to be like to me like he is fairly near the participant we envisioned and he will make a big effect for us.”