Kevin Durant Refuses Credit for Knicks' Success in 2025 Playoffs
The Knicks had been somewhat of a laughing stock for much of the last two decades or so, but have turned things around in recent years.
Advertisement
You might not have expected that to be the case, though, following the events of the 2019 offseason.
The Knicks were heavily linked to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving back then, but both of them would end up going to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Knicks would land Julius Randle as the consolation prize, and the two franchises seemed headed in opposite directions.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant in action against the Dallas Mavericks at Footprint Center.Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Nets never ended up achieving anything of note during the Durant-Irving era, though, and are now in rebuild mode.
The Knicks, meanwhile, stayed competitive and held on to their assets during that time, which enabled them to later make moves and put together the team they have today.
Advertisement
This group's success led to a fan on X claiming that the best thing that ever happened to the Knicks was Durant and Irving choosing to go to the Nets.
Durant wasn't buying that, though, stating that the Knicks' success has nothing to do with him or Irving.
Was the rejection in 2019 actually a blessing in disguise? We'll never quite know for sure.
What we do know is that the Knicks are now just four wins away from getting to the NBA Finals.
The Indiana Pacers are standing in their way, and Game 1 will be at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Related: Kevin Durant Called Out After Post During Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever Game
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2 Sacramento Kings Legends Land on All-Time NBA Greats List
2 Sacramento Kings Legends Land on All-Time NBA Greats List originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Sacramento Kings have had many legendary players over the course of their franchise's history. Of course, the Kings have only one championship to their name, which came in 1951 when they were still the Rochester Royals. Despite the Kings' struggles over their franchise's history, they have produced a quite a few franchise legends and two of them made it onto Bleacher Report's list of the top 100 players in NBA history. The two players who made bleacher Report's list are Chris Weber, who was the 90th ranked player, and Oscar Robertson, who was ranked No. 14. For Webber, he dominated the first five seasons of his career with both the Golden State Warriors and Washington Bullets, now the Washington Wizards, but he turned into a superstar after being traded to Sacramento in 1998. In Sacramento, Webber blossomed into a star as he made four All-Star teams and was also a five-time All-NBA selection. Despite his success, the Kings were never able to make it over the hump and into the NBA Finals, mainly due to the dominance of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. While Webber found success in Sacramento, Robertson is known as arguably the greatest Kings player in the history of their franchise, though his career was spent went they were still known as the Cincinnati Royals. Robertson got off to a fast start in his career, winning Rookie of the Year and finishing fifth in the MVP race his rookie season. He then went on to win one MVP award during his career with the Kings and was also a 10-time All-Star and 10-time All-NBA selection and he also became the first player in league history to averaged a triple-double throughout the entirety of a season in 1961-62. Of course, Robertson left the Kings for the Milwaukee Bucks to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970 where he won the only championship of his career. While these are the only two players the Kings had representing them on Bleacher Report's list, they hope that some of their current stars can eventually make it in the future. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Will Mikal Bridges Sign An Extension With The New York Knicks?
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 05: Mikal Bridges #25 of the New York Knicks celebrates after making a ... More three-point basket against the Boston Celtics during the third quarter in Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 05, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts.(Photo by) As the offseason starts to grind to a halt it's a good time to check in on some of the details that matter, but are a bit more under the radar. One of those things happens to be the dates that open up extension opportunities for players and teams to negotiate. On July 6th the New York Knicks were given the green light to start those very talks with Mikal Bridges. He's able to receive up to a four-year, $156 million contract from the New York Knicks, or he can opt to enter free agency during the summer of 2026. The level of scrutiny was at an all-time high this season concerning Bridges. He was brought in with great expectations, but didn't always live up to the hype that had accompanied his arrival. Yet, he stepped up in some of the biggest moments when the lights were brightest. Is he long for New York, or are the Knicks looking to short the Villanova experiment? Why It Will Get Done This is how the New York Knicks do business. Mitchell Robinson? Extension. Jalen Brunson? Extension. Josh Hart? Extension. Deuce McBride? Extension. The only time this concept proved wrong was with Isaiah Hartenstein. That was a unique situation that was a contract that was impossible to extend because it was only a two year deal. Regardless, the lesson learned is that the New York Knicks like to have cost controlled assets, and don't like the uncertainty of losing players, especially for nothing. After the team just poured serious draft capital into acquiring Mikal Bridges it would be odd to not invest in the player. Mike Brown being hired changes the tenor of negotiations, too. Tom Thibodeau and Mikal Bridges had an assumed relationship that was rocky, at best. In Portland during the month of March, Bridges complained openly to the media about his high minute totals while pointing to the bench as a competent alternative to running the starters ragged. He mentioned that he had brought these very issues to Thibodeau, which the coach denied ever having happened. When the coach was eventually fired in June it came after the owner, James Dolan, heard feedback from the players about how the season panned out. Based on how the season played out it would be fair to assume Bridges didn't hold back from criticizing Thibodeau. This was a culmination of him failing to meet expectations, but also a coach that failed to maximize a player's strengths. Bringing Brown into the fold provides hope of what a new partnership can do for the production of Mikal Bridges who may be better optimized with a different type of usage. Even though he had plenty of lows, Bridges provided moments that etched his name into Knicks' lore for forever. His steal against Jaylen Brown in Game 1 was a thing of beauty and doing the same to Jayson Tatum to seal Game 2 made the upset over the Boston Celtics during the Eastern Conference Semifinals a distinct possibility. It felt as though he had started to make his mark in New York while endearing himself to the fans. Those moments demonstrate how valuable defensive wings that can sling it from deep really are. Bridges hasn't shown consistency in New York, but he has a track record that shows he is an elite defender that can shoot well from the corners and is fantastic in the midrange. At 28 years old he is still well in his prime and would almost certainly garner attention on the market if the team didn't pony up the money now to retain him. Why It Won't Get Done This is how the Knicks do business. Julius Randle? Traded. Immanuel Quickley? Traded. Quentin Grimes? Traded. When they can't reach a reasonable number on a contract they see it as a necessity to move that player for surplus value in fear that they'll lose them for nothing in free agency. Bridges was an odd fit for most of the season, and if that is something the new coaching staff doesn't foresee being able to fix it may be best to move off of the money now. The team could look to trade him with another rotation piece and find a player that they deem better stylistically. The offseason is still early and the window to actually extend Bridges is still wide open, but it's still fair to wonder what the hold up is. When Jalen Brunson extended last season it was thought that he did so in order to give the organization as much flexibility as possible to win a championship. The idea was that Brunson taking a lower number was a sign Bridges was willing to extend off of his current deal. Marc Stein even reported that it was expected that he would be willing to leave some money on the table on his next contract. The Knicks may be less enthused about offering him that contract and Bridges may not be enticed at the prospect of a long term commitment with the franchise after this past season. Free agency looms as a legit threat for the Knicks if they aren't able to hammer out a deal before the season. Bridges is eligible to receive a contract worth well over $200 million if he opts to wait until the summer. We'll see if both sides are able to hammer out a deal before that happens.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Submit a question for Kelly Iko's Rockets mailbag: Offseason edition
The NBA is in the second week of summer league, which means the dog days of the Rockets' offseason are just around the corner. Even with the slowed schedule, there are still several intriguing aspects to keep tabs on as the organization shifts to title contention mode. The Kevin Durant acquisition, the Reed Sheppard summer experiment and the two-footed plunge into the double-big lineups are just the tip of the iceberg. Got an offseason question about anything Rockets related? Send it in and Kelly will answer it in an upcoming mailbag.
