Suns owner Mat Ishbia detailed this week why he believes acquiring Kevin Durant was a mistake, and the 16-time All-Star responded with a social media post that featured a sarcastic hashtag along with seven crying laughing emojis.
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that → detail → emojis
“#blameKD even though KD stayed on top of his game at 36 and got u back this “culture” you love so much,” Durant posted on X while resharing a story containing Ishbia’s quotes.
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Durant → stay → quotes
“Aye, Matthew acts like I got arrested for a DUI or sumn.
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I → act → DUI
The Suns acquired Durant from the Nets in a trade deadline blockbuster in 2023, sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round pick swap in 2028.
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Suns → acquire → 2028
KD played two-plus seasons in Phoenix, averaging 26.8 points per game in 145 regular-season appearances.
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KD → play → appearances
But the Suns won just one playoff series during Durant’s tenure and missed the playoffs altogether in 2025, leading to his trade to Houston that summer.
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Suns → win → Houston
“The team was, I think, the eight or nine seed when I bought the team, and we had some good young players,” Ishbia said earlier this week in a CNBC interview.
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Ishbia → think → interview
“Can we get over the top?
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we → get → top
And I basically was told like, ‘Hey, as an owner, stay out of it and give them some money.’
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I → tell → money
And so I said, ‘Hey, listen, we’ll go into the luxury tax.
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we → say → tax
Go do whatever it takes to try to win a championship.’
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it → go → championship
“And so we did that.
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we → do → that
But it was more going and getting Kevin Durant… that was not aligned with my vision.
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that → go → vision
We had a couple of years, and it did not succeed, as we’re well aware of at this point.
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we → have → point
After that year, I decided to trade Kevin Durant, bring in my GM, bring in a coach, and get extremely involved personally with the type of guy and type of person we want at our organization, not just on the court, but off the court.”
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we → decide → court
Ishbia, who bought a majority stake in the Suns from Robert Sarver for $2.28 billion in February 2023, upset Durant by trying to trade him at the deadline in 2025.
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who → buy → 2025
They eventually dealt him to Houston that July for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, one first-round pick and five second-rounders.
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They → deal → Green
They finished 45-37 and advanced out of the play-in tournament before getting swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.
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They → finish → playoffs
“I’m not saying it’s Kevin Durant or not Kevin Durant,” Ishbia said.
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Ishbia → say → ?
“I’m not going to go name every one of my players, but we’ve defined what matters to us.
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what → go → us
We have a thing called the Suns’ DNA, the type of player that we believe in, that we want, and it’s a team that the fans will be proud of.
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fans → have → that
“Everyone thought we were going to be the worst team in the league last year,” Ishbia said.
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Ishbia → think → league
“We made the playoffs, won 45 games.
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We → make → games
We’re going to build on that.
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We → go → that
And so, what I’ve learned, my biggest lesson to kind of come back, one, it’s not positive or negative about Kevin Durant.
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it → learn → Durant
What it is is we have to define what we’re about in Phoenix and then stick with it and believe in our vision and our path.
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we → have → vision
“And I didn’t do that at the beginning.
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I → do → beginning
I kind of just threw money at the problem.
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I → throw → problem
Now I got personally involved with every decision, from the 14th man on the roster to the first man on the roster, every aspect of it, fan experience, players, coaches.
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I → involve → it
I’m putting my heart and soul into it.”
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I → put → it
Durant and the Rockets (52-30) were the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, but they were also bounced in the first round in six games by the Lakers.
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they → bounce → Lakers
“I always had fun out there,” Durant said in August on his Boardroom platform.
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Durant → have → platform
“I don’t want to undercut my time in Phoenix because I feel like we have some great moments on the court.
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we → want → court
But I feel as though we were an older group who kind of stuck in our ways as veterans, and veterans kind of like to do their own thing a lot.
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veterans → feel → thing
When you’re a younger group, it’s more of a tight-knit group.
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it → ’re → group
“They’re all learning together, it’s kind of like a college feel, and I think that’s the difference.”
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that → learn → feel
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