Southwest Notes: Durant, Plumlee, Sochan, Jackson

In his first media session since the All-Star game, Rockets star Kevin Durant immediately faced questions about rumors that went viral on social media over the weekend. Durant, who was accused of using a burner Twitter account to disparage current and former teammates in group chats, dismissed the speculation without explicitly denying that the account belonged to him, per Sam Amick and William Guillory of The Athletic and Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“I know you gotta ask these questions, but I’m not here to get into Twitter nonsense,” Durant said. “I’m just here to focus on the season, keep it pushing. But I get you all have to (ask).”

The account speculated to be Durant’s, which used the handle @GetHigher77, took shots at Suns guard Devin Booker, former Suns head coach Frank Vogel, Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr of the Warriors, and Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. of the Rockets, among others.

Asked if he’d spoken to his teammates about the rumors, Durant replied, “My teammates know what it is. We’ve been locked in the whole season. Enjoyed our break. Had a great practice today, looking forward to the road trip.”

We have more from around the Southwest:

• Although he officially signed a 10-day contract with the Spurs on Tuesday, it’s unclear when Mason Plumlee will be able to suit up for his new team. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Mitch Johnson said that Plumlee – who underwent groin surgery at the end of December – won’t be active for the team’s games in Austin on Thursday or Saturday.
• Asked on Wednesday at his introductory press conference as a Knick what went wrong for him in San Antonio, former No. 9 overall pick Jeremy Sochan suggested he got “no real opportunity” with the Spurs under Johnson, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). “It is what it is. It’s a deep team,” he said. “Maybe I didn’t see eye-to-eye with Coach. I’m just blessed to be somewhere to grow.”
• Chiding from teammate Scotty Pippen Jr. prompted Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II to adopt a more aggressive attitude on the court, DaMichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes in a subscriber-only story. In his third NBA season, Jackson has become a more efficient scorer and a reliable presence on defense, but it took a push from Pippen and other veterans to get him there. “I would see him in practice and he would be one of the most athletic guys in the gym, then he would get in the game and wouldn’t even dunk or he would only dunk on fast breaks,” Pippen said. “I’m excited every time I see him dunk and play physical because now guys are starting to get out of the way, or he’s dunking on them.”

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.