Nets' Kevin Durant Denies Retirement Rumors: 'S--t Is Comical at This Point'

For most of the NBA's off-season, Kevin Durant's name has been in the headlines, but the next headline will not be about his retirement.

If anyone out there will listen, I don't plan on retiring anytime soon. At this point, it's comical.

According to Stein, a team executive told him that he was more apt to retire than play for the Nets.

On August 8th, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Nets needed to make a decision on whether to trade or fire head coach Steve Nash.

In the wake of the report, Tsai offered his support to the staff.

Joe Tsai @joetsai1999

Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.

Brooklyn hasn't received an offer that's acceptable for the 12-time All-Star, further indicating it hasn't received a trade for him. There could be an awkward situation when the season begins if he isn't traded and Marks and Nash aren't fired.

Stein said that some people believed retirement could be a way to increase his leverage.

There is a growing expectation in league circles that he will continue trying to cause as much of a commotion behind the scenes to try to convince the Nets to lower their asking price in order to facilitate a trade. If it wasn't obvious by now, he really wants that trade to Phoenix or Miami or maybe even Boston or Philadelphia, no matter what it does to his reputation, because he hasn't played a single game yet under the four-year, $194 million contract extension he signed in

After Stein's report, the two sides were close to where they were before it.

The attention given to the situation and likely force Nash and other players to answer questions about his whereabouts is the result of Brian Windhorst's suggestion that KD might hold out of training camp in an effort to get the trade he wants.

This is the biggest NBA storyline until there is some sort of resolution.

It may drag into the 2022-23 campaign, but basketball fans who want to see KD take the court again can at least take solace in the fact that he won't retire in the immediate future.