There have been many jabs thrown between Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns over the past year. He is in his second season with the Houston Rockets, but it seems that there is still some conflict between him and his former team.
Durant played against the Suns on Saturday, and he struggled from the field, scoring 5-of-14 from the field. He made 10 out of his 11 free throws, which is half of his offense, because he only had to work hard for his 21 points. The same happened to Alperen Sengun, who also struggled for his 15 points.
Dillon Brooks gets a dig in on Kevin Durant after the Suns beat the Rockets
Before the season started, Suns owner Mat Ishbia did an interview with CNBC where he spoke about regretting the Durant trade. Of course, Durant did not let that slide, as he returned to X to call out his former boss.
They went back and forth again, as Durant kept firing while Ishbia took the high road. Now, it seems that the Suns have taken note of this because Dillon Brooks seemed motivated ahead of this matchup against Durant.
MORE: Kevin Durant fires back at Mat Ishbia amid his regret about making the trade
Over the years, Brooks has gotten familiar with Durant, but it escalated even more when they were traded for each other in the summer of 2025. With the added bit of the Ishbia-Durant feud wedged in there, it seems Brooks had extra motivation to defend Durant to the best of his ability.
“That’s our culture. We play hard, we play together, and we try to challenge ourselves to do great. So shout out to Mat,” Brooks said about the defense they played against Durant and Sengun.
Brooks made sure to get a dig in there because he wanted to stick up for the Suns’ owner. Of course, he knows that Durant will probably get annoyed by that, so Brooks wants to keep poking and annoying his matchup.
