{"id":660818,"date":"2026-03-16T07:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T07:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/660818\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T07:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T07:29:28","slug":"kevin-durants-burner-account-controversy-still-impacts-rockets-chemistry-says-former-teammate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/660818\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant’s Burner Account Controversy Still Impacts Rockets’ Chemistry, Says Former Teammate"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Kevin Durant<\/a>\u2018s acquisition in the offseason, the Houston Rockets<\/a> were widely regarded as title favorites. While this remains the case for the most part, with the Rockets (41-25) in fourth place, Durant\u2019s former teammate, Kendrick Perkins<\/a>, noted a distinct lack of chemistry.<\/p>\n

During a recent episode of the \u201cRoad Trippin\u2019 Show<\/a>,\u201d Kendrick Perkins noted that there had been a shift in the Rockets\u2019 energy. While many reasons could be attributed to this, Perkins expressed that Kevin Durant\u2019s burner account controversy may have played a role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a disconnect in this organization,\u201d Perkins claimed. \u201cIn my mind, I\u2019m starting to think, I don\u2019t see a lot of high fives, chest bumping, are they over the allegations of the burner account? The KD burner account. Are they over these allegations? Because since the All-Star break, when those allegations came out, this team hasn\u2019t been clicking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the season, without a point guard, for the first two months, they had one of the best offenses in the NBA,\u201d\u00a0he continued. \u201cYou can\u2019t tell me what we\u2019re looking at, this disconnect, Ime [Udoka] having to call motherf***ers out\u2026 They look like a team that\u2019s not bought in all the way.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a reflection of what happened. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a reflection of Ime. I don\u2019t know what it is. All I know is their a** is going to be sent home in the first round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendrick Perkins\u2019 recent comments regarding the Rockets<\/a>, especially players such as Alperen Sengun, may suggest that he is being overly critical. However, when gauging the team\u2019s performance since the All-Star break, the former NBA champion may have a solid foundation for his statement involving Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n

Before the All-Star break, the Houston Rockets enjoyed a 33-20 record and boasted an offensive rating of 117.0 (6th in the NBA). Since the All-Star break, the Rockets have struggled to maintain their effectiveness, logging an 8-5 record and seeing their offensive rating fall to 114.1 (16th in the NBA).<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s defensive execution has also suffered. Although the team posted a defensive rating of 112.0 before the break (5th in the NBA), it has dropped to 113.1 (14th in the NBA) since.<\/p>\n

In the last 10 games, Houston has struggled to win consistently. With a 6-4 record in this period, it is apparent that the team hasn\u2019t found a way to build off its victories, resulting in losses to teams like the Warriors and the Heat.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the Rockets\u2019 scoring has taken a hit. Surprisingly, Kevin Durant, who is averaging a team-high 26.0 points per game on 51.5% shooting from the field and 40.6% from three-point range, has seen a minor increase in scoring, posting 26.5 points per game since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant\u2019s burner account controversy<\/a> undoubtedly had an internal impact on the Rockets. With several teammates like Jabari Smith Jr.<\/a> and Alperen Sengun<\/a> being called out, locker room tension is an inevitability.<\/p>\n

While the team has rallied around Kevin Durant<\/a> to some extent, there may be some reason to believe Kendrick Perkins\u2019 claim. With the Rockets falling out of favor as a title threat<\/a>, the team will need to address these issues sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Kevin Durant\u2018s acquisition in the offseason, the Houston Rockets were widely regarded as title favorites. While this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[7,292,194,4066,6,211],"class_list":["post-660818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-houston-rockets","tag-basketball","tag-houston","tag-houston-rockets","tag-houstonrockets","tag-nba","tag-rockets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116237681557471530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}