Will Kevin Durant Leave Thunder After Brooks firing?

By Ernie Padaon | Apr 22, 2015

Feb 14, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Western Conference forward Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (35) addresses the media during practice at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Will the Scott Brooks firing make Kevin Durant want to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have fired their head coach Scott Brooks and all the attention will go to Kevin Durant now. How will he react to the firing? What will he think of the new head coach and will this make him want to skip out of town? Durant will not become a free agent until 2016, but he will be holding all the cards. Durant was a huge fan of Brooks, but now the team will be looking for someone to replace him.

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In Durant’s memorable MVP speech, he talked about Brooks and how he deserved more credit than he received:

"Scott Brooks, you mean the world to me. I love you. You, as a man, I’ve never met anybody like you. So selfless, you don’t take the credit for nothing. Even though you deserve all of it. I love you and your family for always taking me in, believing in me, texting me late at night when I was going crazy. Thank you."

Earlier this season, Durant was asked about the job security of Brooks and he responded, “You guys really don’t know s—.”

He then when t on a rant with the media:

"“To be honest, man, I’m only here talking to y’all because I have to,” Durant said. “So I really don’t care. Y’all not my friends. You’re going to write what you want to write. You’re going to love us one day and hate us the next. That’s a part of it. So I just learn how to deal with y’all.”"

The Thunder better figure out if the new head coach will mesh well with one of the top players in the league. With Durant becoming a free agent in 2016, he will be able to call his shot on what head coach he wants in town and Durant will still has the ability to leave at the end of the year.

Durant cannot be happy that there will be a new head coach in OKC. This could get him to think about playing in a new town. Teams will be looking to pry the star out of OKC to bring him into their town when he does become a free agent. Will Durant bite?

One spot that could be interesting for Durant is Washington. Durant grew up a Wizards fan and might like the opportunity to head back to his hometown like LeBron James has done.

"“I grew up watching the Wizards, (the) Bullets-Wizards,” Durant said when pressed on the topic by a reporter from the Washington Post. “I grew up taking the train to that arena all the time. I watched Georgetown, I watched the Bullets, I watched the (WNBA’s) Mystics, so that whole city is a part of me, is in my blood. Like I said, I love going back home to see my family and stuff and playing there, but I love Oklahoma City too.”"

Durant seems very loyal to his city. Durant seems loyal to his teammates. He was very loyal to his head coach. Whoever the Thunder bring in will have to get this team into the playoffs and make a good impression on Durant. Will Durant want to leave?

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