Kevin Durant To Stay With Brooklyn Nets: General Manager Sean Marks

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, NY — Basketball star Kevin Durant will be moving forward with the Brooklyn Nets, according to the team’s General Manager Sean Marks on Tuesday.

Marks met with Durant, his sports manager Rich Kleiman, the team’s coach, Steve Nash, and the Nets’ Governors Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai Monday in Los Angeles ahead of the announcement, according to the general manager.

“We have agreed to move forward with our partnership,” posted Marks on Twitter. “We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”

The announcement comes months after Durant requested a trade, but he will remain in Brooklyn with an extended four-year $198 million contract, which he signed in the offseason, ESPN reported.

Durant’s contract negotiations and Nets teammate Kyrie Irving’s refusal to take a Covid-19 vaccine, has left the Brooklyn sports team in upheaval during the offseason, ESPN said.

In March, Mayor Eric Adams lowered the restrictions for vaccine mandates on sports teams, which allows Irving to play in home games, according to SB Nation.

With both Irving and Durant back in play with the Nets, the team might be able to improve upon last year’s first-round playoff, according to ESPN.

This all comes on the heels of speculation that the Memphis Grizzlies had entered talks with Durant earlier this week, according to Yahoo Sports.

With Ben Simmons off the bench after overcoming both mental health, as well as physical health problems with his back, and the addition of Durant and Irving, it might be a banner year for the Nets, said Yahoo Sports.