Kevin Durant sparks Suns, defends exchange with Mike Budenholzer - ESPN

PHOENIX — After his competitive fire helped lead the Phoenix Suns to a comeback win they desperately needed, superstar Kevin Durant passionately criticized the reaction to a brief, heated exchange he had with coach Mike Budenholzer early in Tuesday's game.

TNT cameras caught Durant and Budenholzer barking at each other during a timeout in the first quarter of Phoenix's 119-117 win over the LA Clippers. After Budenholzer grabbed Durant's left forearm, an attempt to stop the 15-time All-Star so they could continue the conversation that stemmed from a disagreement regarding an offensive set, Durant jerked his arm away and continued walking toward the bench before turning around to exchange more words.

After sparking a rally from a 23-point deficit, Durant expressed dismay that the interaction became fodder for social media content and speculation about the issues for a Phoenix team that had lost 11 of 14 games before rallying to beat the Clippers.

«That's what usually happens when you don't know dynamics of the relationship,» Durant said after scoring 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. «You catch something on TV, you get a quote and now you pushing that narrative as if me and Bud don't do that s--- all the time. 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 want to do it and vice versa.

»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