Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden were all superstars, and the addition of these players put the Brooklyn Nets in what seemed like a good position to win the NBA championship.
It was one of the greatest partnerships in league history in terms of individual talent. They only played 16 games together, which is a shame for Nets fans. In 10 regular season games, they went 8-2, and in six postseason games, they went 5-1.
Their dominance on the court is overshadowed by the things they failed to achieve throughout their time.
Harden spent just over a full year in Brooklyn and the trio’s lone postseason run together was overshadowed by injuries. The 11-time All-Star and Irving both missed three games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals as the Nets lost to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.
Making matters worse, Durant nearly won them the series with what appeared to be a buzzer-beating three-pointer, however, it was ruled a two-pointer as his toe was on the line. Brooklyn wound up dropping the game in overtime.
The following year, Irving’s decision not to take the COVID-19 vaccine led to Harden’s trade request and him ultimately being moved to the Philadelphia 76ers. Durant seemingly took a shot at his former running mates as him and former head coach Steve Nash reflected on their time in Brooklyn during the latest episode of the latter’s “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James.
“I had just signed that deal, you had just signed a deal,” Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant stated. “I felt like we were secure, but everything else around us was going to (expletive). And not in a bad way. We had GM’s going to other teams. We had coaches going to other teams. We had players forcing trades. We bring in Ben Simmons, his back hurt. It was just so much (expletive) around us.”
“I feel like we were locked in on the same page and understanding we’re trying to do something special here,” Durant continued. “And I feel like your hands were tied a lot because, as a coach, you had to deal with so much. I think we didn’t get the full Steve Nash like I wanted. Like you probably wanted. I just felt like it was just too much other (expletive), too many distractions in a way and you can’t win that way.”
“I felt like we had great intentions though,” The 15-time All-Star added. “I felt like we cared enough. I felt like every day we were trying to push towards winning the championship. It was a great vibe there. It was some of the best times. That first year, that’s why I signed that deal. That first year, man, most fun ball I had. Some of the most fun ball I had playing my whole life. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Brooklyn a lot. I loved playing for Brooklyn, but it’s just so much happened around the guys that were committed to the situation. I felt like we were committed but everybody else wasn’t. It was just weird.”
Durant has never publicly pointed fingers at anyone regarding how things in Brooklyn turned out, but it has always been clear that he wanted the trio to remain together.
All three have long moved on from the Nets — with both him and Harden now on their second team since doing so.
Each of the three All-Stars have been unable to win a championship since their split leading many to believe that they should have attempted to make things work.
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