Kevin Durant sent shockwaves through the NBA Thursday afternoon, just a few hours before free agency began, as he formally requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. That confirmed a rumor that surfaced more than a week ago.

On June 22, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Nets were running the “risk of alienating Kevin Durant and perhaps unfastening from his commitment to wanting to be in Brooklyn if Kyrie Irving were to leave.”

Shortly after Wojnarowski’s report, Durant went on his ETCs podcast and dismissed the various media rumors spiraling around Brooklyn. He blamed them on outlets just wanting to “keep the engagement going” this time of year. Put more bluntly, he lied.

“It’s just reports. You know how rumors go around this time,” Durant told his co-host Eddie Gonzalez. “It’s draft time and the Finals just ended, so you just gotta keep that dialogue going and keep the engagement going.”

Less than a week after claiming the rumors were just examples of media outlets attempting to keep their engagement up, Durant confirmed the rumors by officially requesting a trade out of Brooklyn.

Is this the new media? Well, it’s exactly what Draymond Green preaches the new media to be. Players having their own media outlets and spaces so they can control the narrative. But this is also exactly why the new media will never replace the old media.

Old media reports Kevin Durant might request a trade. New media brushes it off as outlets looking for clicks. Kevin Durant requests a trade. Old media was right in their reporting and new media looks foolish.

Stephen A. Smith recently ripped Durant for having a podcast and staying quiet on the topics people want to hear about. What’s worse, having a podcast and saying nothing? Having a podcast and creating a false narrative? Or in Durant’s case, you could just do both. But somewhere between blindly supporting your NBA peers, mocking journalists and blatantly lying, sits the old media.

[The ETCs Podcast]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com