© Ken Blaze | 2018 Jun 8
This summer, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reported that LeBron James reached out to Kevin Durant, in an attempt to convince the back-to-back NBA Finals MVP to team up together with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“As it pertains to LeBron James in LA, the reports have been that he’s been making some phone calls or what have you,” Smith said on First Take. “I got two phone calls last night, after hours, with folks telling me that LeBron James reached out to Kevin Durant.
“Actually Kevin Durant, you know that dude, the two time reigning NBA Finals MVP. You know that guy, one of the top three players in the world. That guy, who spent the last two years beating LeBron James in the NBA Finals. Well LeBron James reached out to Kevin Durant via text, from what I’m told, about coming to Los Angeles.”
Durant didn’t comment on the report at the time, but on Tuesday KD told the Bay Area News Group that it never happened.
“Hell no,” Durant said when asked about the report via Mark Medina. “That was all false. All false. 100 percent false. He didn’t talk about none of that stuff.”
The comments come on the heels of speculation by Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, that Kevin Durant may leave next offseason, when he has the option to become a free agent, or opt-in to making $30 million with the Warriors in 2019-20.
“Man, KD out,” Thompson told Murph and Mac. “I feel like he is gone… It does have that vibe, like, ‘This is it. This could be it right here.’”
“It feels like he has gotten everything he could possibly get from the Warriors, and it’s still not 100 percent like he wants to be here,” Thompson said. “If it was like a relationship, like, ‘Look, man. I gave you all I got. You still looking— you might as well just go.’ That’s how it feels.”
Listen to the Murph and Mac podcast below. To hear Thompson talk about Durant, skip to the 9:40 mark.