Suns' Durant wasn't speaking to Vogel, led to coach's firing, ESPN's Kendrick Perkins says

Kendrick Perkins painted a picture of Kevin Durant that suggests the superstar is the reason why Frank Vogel is no longer the Phoenix Suns’ head coach.

The ESPN NBA analyst said during Thursday night’s SportsCenter that Durant didn’t speak to Vogel for the last three months of the season. The Suns announced Vogel's firing earlier in the day.

“Frank Vogel gets fired after his first season all because the two-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP in Kevin Durant wasn't speaking to the man and listening to Frank Vogel for the last three months and all of the sudden it becomes a ripple effect,” Perkins said.

There are photos of Durant and Vogel having interaction as recent as March 7 when the Suns played the Raptors at Footprint Center. Perkins opened his segment by saying he’s tired of “dealing with these soft, cupcake players that lack accountability.”

The former NBA player who won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season continued by pointing out the Bucks firing Adrian Griffin after 43 games (30-13) and the Lakers firing Darvin Ham after they were eliminated in the first round by defending NBA champion Denver before taking aim at Durant when discussing the Suns firing Vogel after just one season in Phoenix.

“You can tell by looking on the floor at his body language,” Perkins continued in his ESPN segment Thursday with Scott Van Pelt. “I don’t go looking for information. Sometimes information finds me. And that’s a problem, man. We have a problem in today’s game with a lack of accountability and it’s a shame, especially when it’s coming from the old heads. Frank Vogel did not deserve to lose his job, but he did because the Phoenix Suns had to make a choice between Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant, and you know they’re going to go with Kevin Durant.”

Vogel signed a five-year, $31-million deal last summer in replacing Monty Williams, who was fired after coaching the Suns to three consecutive playoff appearances that began with a run to the 2021 finals.

The Suns finished 49-33 in Vogel’s first season, landed the sixth seed to avoid the play-in, but were swept in the first round by the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.

Phoenix will now have its third head coach in three seasons. ESPN is reporting former Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer is the “front runner" to replace Vogel. This will also be Durant's fifth different head coach since he joined Brooklyn after winning two championships and two finals MVPs at Golden State under Steve Kerr.

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Durant was part of three straight trips to the finals with the Warriors under Kerr.

Van Pelt and Perkins agreed nothing will change in Phoenix under Budenholzer, who coached the Bucks to the 2020-21 NBA championship when they defeated the Suns in six games.

The Suns had the third-highest payroll this season as they spent over the second tax apron and are projected to have the highest payroll next season as Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant are due to make a combined $150 million.

“At the end of the day, they’re too top heavy,” Perkins said.

Perkins then talked about how teams like the T-Wolves with Anthony Edwards, the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder “aren’t going anywhere.” He also mentioned the Memphis Grizzlies as Ja Morant will be back after having season-ending shoulder surgery in January.

“At the end of the day, unless these players start taking some type of accountability,” Perkins said. “Unless Bradley Beal can get his body in great shape to be healthy and Devin Booker could learn to be unselfish, the Phoenix Suns are going to be right back in the position that they were this year.”

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ESPN analyst blames Durant for Suns firing Frank Vogel after 1 year