Kevin Durant Would Have Picked Knicks If Not For His Injury, Says Jalen Rose

Kevin Durant was one of the most intriguing people in free agency as people were curious if he’d go with either the New York Knicks or the Brooklyn Nets. In the end, Durant ended up joining the Nets alongside Kyrie Irving. At first, it was believed that Durant would be going to the Knicks but as Jalen Rose of ESPN explained, the injury stripped him of any leverage he had with Kyrie. Essentially, now that Kyrie has to play a year by himself, he got to choose where the duo went.

“KD went from being the lead domino and trying to persuade Kyrie Irving which team they should play for to getting injured and having to miss an entire year to Kyrie Irving persuading him what they should play for,” Rose said. “You clearly see who won out because one guy is going to be playing this year, another guy has to come back from injury. You need somebody to hold it down while you’re not out there, they’re the best of friends, so it makes sense for them to pair up. That’s what ended up making it be for the Nets instead of the Knicks.”

Knicks fans were understandably upset at the news they wouldn’t be getting Durant this season as once again, they missed out on all of the good free agents.