Jalen Brunson scored a career high 50 points on a perfect 9/9 from downtown in a 139-122 victory for the New York Knicks on the road at the Phoenix Suns. It was all good times and jokes after the game for the Knicks after Julius Randle poked fun at the drama between the Bucks and Pacers this week, making a huge show of securing the game ball for Brunson.
But it wasn’t all fun and games for Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns afterwards.
In his postgame press conference, Durant appeared to take a not-so-subtle shot at his own organization, going out of the way to praise the Knicks for feeding Brunson when he had the hot hand and running plays for him. Durant called the Knicks Brunson’s franchise, later even saying that he could be a Hall of Famer.
"Thats his franchise, they're all there to support him, when he gets hot they give him the ball" – Frustrated KD on Knicks franchise support of Brunson
Opinion: a shade on Suns org not giving KD the 🔑& clearly operate as if its Devin Bookers team#NBA #WeAreTheValley https://t.co/BLe7E3kB9C pic.twitter.com/oO8ppV9jpy
— Jeri Tsai (@JeriTsaiNets) December 16, 2023
Kevin Durant asked about Jalen Brunson, repeatedly references Knicks players and coaches getting him the ball when he’s hot, supporting him, lifting him up
Combine that with how frustrated KD looked on court in that 2nd half and I don’t think his words there were an accident
— Brendon Kleen (@BrendonKleen14) December 16, 2023
A clearly frustrated Durant also called out the Suns’ defense on Quentin Grimes, who Phoenix allowed to go 3-6 from three even though that’s pretty much all he does for the Knicks offense.
KD didn’t have to do Quentin Grimes like that 💀 https://t.co/GCp3QVLARi
— BrickWrld (@BRICKW0RLD) December 16, 2023
Of course, Durant is on his fourth superteam after leaving Oklahoma City, Golden State, and Brooklyn where he was surrounded by multiple All-Star caliber players at each stop. That’s true again in Phoenix where he’s now joined by Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The trio is just now healthy and clearly feeling their way into building some chemistry. But is Durant hiding some hard feelings that Phoenix is Booker’s team and Durant is his wingman instead of the other way around? Durant leading the team in scoring this season at 30.7 PPG so far while Booker has shifted to point guard and is averaging 28.1 PPG and over 8 assists per game.
Could it just be frustration after a home defeat or is it a hint at something more? Only Durant and his burner account knows what is truly going through his mind.It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that one of Durant’s superteams went south.
