Kevin Durant an unhappy ‘problem’ for Suns: Stephen A. Smith

The time may have already arrived to break up the Suns’ Big 3, especially with increased rumblings that Kevin Durant isn’t happy in Phoenix. 

At least that’s according to Stephen A. Smith. 

The ESPN personality called Durant a “problem” in Phoenix on Monday’s “First Take” and claimed that Durant is no longer happy with the franchise he was traded to in 2023 after the Big 3 experiment fell apart in Brooklyn.

“It is a problem. We don’t see it ’cause the stats are there. Him and (Devin) Booker average 27 points a game and what have you, but they say Kevin Durant is never happy,” Smith said. “They say he went more than a month without even talking to the head coach (Frank Vogel). They say he doesn’t look happy there. 

“All he wants to do is play when the game starts and tip-off time arrives, but when it comes to ingratiating yourself with your teammates and getting along with everybody and stuff like that, he just lives in his own world.”

Smith claimed that the situation wasn’t a case of Durant being disliked or doing anything that created a negative environment. 

However, the reason it mattered, according to the “First Take” host, was that it was a similar situation that played out right before Durant departed from Golden State. 

“Which is what was driving Draymond Green crazy, which is why he ultimately got into it on the court in that Clippers game and what have you,” Smith said. “You hear stuff, you hear stuff, you hear about the level of unhappiness, etc, etc. And you get tired of it because when you don’t want to talk and you don’t want to answer questions, you don’t want to lead in a very visible way, that forces other people to have to step up and take on a level of culpability that they don’t want to stomach.”

The Suns are coming off a season where they went 49-33 to finish as the sixth seed in the West, but were swept out of the first round by the Timberwolves. 

Phoenix did go 26-15 in games in which the trio of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant were all on the court and the 75 games that Durant played this season were the most he’s appeared in since before his Achilles injury. 

The Suns underwent a coaching change as well, firing Frank Vogel on Thursday and hiring Mike Budenholzer for the job on Saturday.