The NBA and its fans have been wrestling with the player empowerment era for a little while now. The league and its enjoyers are conflicted over just how much power the stars should hold over their careers.

On the one hand, player movement — especially among stars — is one thing that makes the NBA so exciting, even during the offseason.

On the other, having the best players constantly switching teams and completely controlling their destinies can be detrimental to the league in several ways, including making it more difficult for small-market teams to succeed, voiding the benefits of teams inking long-term contracts with their stars, and possibly mitigating true parity across the league.

While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hasn’t yet made any statements on whether he intends to find a way to fix this issue in regards to player empowerment, he just made it public that he’s not a fan of star players demanding trades.

“I’m realistic that there’s always conversations going on behind closed doors between players and their representatives and the teams. But we don’t like to see players requesting trades, and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”

In the past few seasons, we’ve seen a substantial amount of star players demand trades successfully: Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, James Harden from both the Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets, and Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers are some of the most significant that come to mind. This summer saw another household name join the list: Kevin Durant.

LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: Brooklyn Nets Should Just Run It Back With Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

After a fiasco of a season in which he had to watch Harden flee the team and had to deal with all of Kyrie Irving’s off-court drama regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and his possible contract extension, Durant is fed up with playing in Brooklyn and has formally submitted a trade request.

As it stands, Durant is under contract for the next four years, so the Brooklyn Nets technically hold all of the leverage in this situation and could elect not to trade him.

“I don’t know whether he requested a trade or demanded one, frankly,” Silver said. “This needs to be a two-way street. Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players, and the expectation in return is that they’ll meet their end of the bargain.”

Kevin Durant, of course, could just boycott the team and sit out until he’s moved a la Ben Simmons or could even sabotage the team by playing poorly a la Harden in his last days in Houston.

Latest NBA News & Trade Rumors

• Brooklyn Nets Should Just Run It Back With Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving
• ‘No Movement’: Nets Favor Keeping Kevin Durant Amid Trade Request
• Kevin Durant In Contact With Brooklyn Nets Amid Trade Rumors
• Kyrie Irving Wants To Play For Nets Regardless Of Kevin Durant?

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