Durant, Budenholzer downplay tense exchange in Suns' win over Clippers
Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant says there was nothing to a seemingly heated first-quarter discussion Wednesday between him and head coach Mike Budenholzer.
"That's what usually happens when you don't know dynamics of the relationship; you catch something on TV, you get a quote and now you're pushing that narrative as if me and Bud don't do that shit all the time," Durant said after the Suns' 119-117 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. "We (are) competitive as two individuals who want to see things done the right way, and sometimes my way ain't the way that Bud wants to do it and vice versa, and he allows me as a player on the team, a veteran on the team, to voice my opinion.
"If we both didn't care, we would never have stuff like that. You know what I'm saying? So I'm glad that the win is going to sweep all of that stupid stuff under the rug, because people couldn't wait. Even some people in Phoenix, in here, couldn't wait to run with that and say, 'This is the reason why the team ain't playing well, because of that specific thing.' But come on, man, that shows that me and Bud really care about trying to right this ship and trying to win basketball games. He understands where I'm coming from. I understand exactly where he's coming from."
Budenholzer reached out to grab Durant's left arm as the Suns walked off the court during a timeout, and they appeared to discuss something ahead of the huddle. That prompted Durant to suddenly pull his arm away before turning back to the coach and continuing the conversation.
Budenholzer echoed Durant's sentiments about the altercation and praised the 36-year-old's leadership throughout the rest of the contest.
"He and I are like old friends," Budenholzer told reporters. "We're always probably grabbing and talking to each other. I thought, actually, his energy and his voice tonight (were) great. I think there was some kind of offensive play - he wanted something, I wanted something, and it's the beauty of basketball. But I think as the game, really from that moment - his voice, him talking, feedback, ideas, suggestions, was really a big part of the night."
Durant played the entire first quarter and scored four of his five points in the frame after the exchange. The 15-time All-Star finished with 34 points on 10-of-22 shooting (4-of-11 from three) and was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line. He also had seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and was the only Suns starter to finish with a positive plus-minus at plus-16.
The former MVP scored 19 points in the fourth quarter alone, helping Budenholzer's squad erase a 23-point deficit to improve to 29-33.
Phoenix is now just three games back of the Dallas Mavericks for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Dallas has lost four of its last five and will be without Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season after the star guard suffered a torn ACL on Monday.