Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant isn't 'telling' Mike Budenholzer what to do in heated exchanges

Kevin Durant’s intense in-game exchanges with coach Mike Budenholzer have been evaluated to the point that it’s become a major storyline in the Phoenix Suns’ disappointing season.

They’ve said that’s all part of their relationship, but the superstar and coach going back and forth during a timeout in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers reignited this hot-button topic.

“He’s always pushing us to win,” Budenholzer said after Sunday’s game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. “He’s pushing us to be better, trying to figure out the spacing. Sometimes figure out the defense whether it’s are we putting two on the ball and how we’re rotating. So, I think it’s pretty normal stuff, but we have to figure it out. We have to be better.”

From afar, it appears Durant is telling Budenholzer what to do.

From Durant, that’s not the case.

“I don’t say, ‘Coach, we’ve got to do this.’ It’s his team,” Durant said after Wednesday’s morning shootaround. “I’m there to be of assistance. If he needs me to do anything. If I got some suggestions on what may happen, I’m asking him. I’m not telling him what to do. I’m asking him, ‘Yo, Coach, what you think, we should do this right here?’ If he doesn’t think so, all right, then I’ll move on.”

Continuing to address the question, Durant made sure to let it be known that he isn’t ordering around his head coach. TNT captured Durant pulling his arm away from Budenholzer heading into a timeout during a comeback home win on March 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, Durant believes nearly 20 years in the NBA gives him some authority to speak on what he sees and feels during the game.

“I’ve never been that guy telling somebody what to do,” Durant said, “but I’ve been in the league for a long time and if I see something, Coach gives me the leeway to come to him if I see something out there that may be different.

“I think everyone on the team has that type of confidence to go to Coach with that stuff. I’m not telling him what he needs to do. I’m listening and giving suggestions and if it helps, it helps. If he doesn’t take it, then you move on to the next thing.”

Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was a rookie NBA head coach at Oklahoma City for Durant’s final season with the Thunder in 2015-16. He admits having a “humbling” experience with Durant for his first game as an NBA head coach Oct. 28, 2015 against San Antonio.

“I had to understand and realize that he knew a lot more about him guarding Kawhi Leonard than I would ever know because of the experience,” Donovan said.

Donovan admitted he doesn’t know dynamics of the Durant-Budenholzer relationship, but all for “leaning” on the players when it comes to their experiences of playing the game.

“I always enjoyed my time with Kevin,” Donovan said. “He’s incredibly driven and motivated to be special and be great. He wants to win. He’s got a really high basketball IQ. I don’t know the relationship between he and Bud, but however that’s working, Kevin has always been a very, very passionate player and always been about the team and doing whatever he can to help the team.

“I think if he sees something that he feels is going to help the team, he’s going to probably say it and I think if Bud feels that’s something that he’s seen that can help the team, he’s going to say it. Then it all comes down to working together.”

Donovan continued by saying how a conversation looks from a distance can be different than what’s actually taken place between a player and coach.

“I think sometimes when you’re in competitive, heated situations, sometimes the optics of it may look totally different than the reality of it,” Donovan said. “It happens sometimes where it looks like you’re arguing or are in total disagreement, but you’re working things out and people go about doing it different ways.”

The Suns (32-37) responded so Sunday’s loss to the Lakers with their widest margin of victory, 129-89, over Toronto in the second of a back-to-back.

“It’s a good feeling, regardless of how the season is going,” Durant said. “It’s good to get a big win like that and hopefully that builds momentum. I know we’ve been saying that all season, but the hope is still there.”

Phoenix was looking to win two games in a row for the first time since late January in its Wednesday night matchup with Chicago at PHX Arena.

“We’ve just got to play with desperation,” Suns rookie big Oso Ighodaro said. “I thought we did a good job of that last game.”

Entering Wednesday night’s games, the Suns were a game behind Dallas for the 10th seed in the West and final play-in spot in the conference.

“It’s less talking, just doing,” Ighodaro later said. “This isn’t high school or college. Everyone knows exactly what we need to do and we’ve just got to go out there and do it.”

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant isn’t ‘telling’ Suns coach Mike Budenholzer what to do

Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant isn’t ‘telling’ Mike Budenholzer what to do in heated exchanges

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