Ahead of the Suns‘ game in Brooklyn on Wednesday, former Nets star Kevin Durant reflected on his time with the organization. According to the New York Post’s Brian Lewis, Durant said the two biggest factors for why the Nets build with Kyrie Irving and James Harden didn’t work out was the COVID-19 pandemic and injuries that kept the trio from playing together often.
“That first year when James got here halfway through the season was some of the most incredible basketball that I’ve seen, I played in,” Durant said. “But more so than anything — in the locker room, the bus rides, the plane rides, the hotels — that was the culture we were building. A lot of people didn’t get to see it, but I wish they could have. It was special.”
“You see so many fans who still remember those times and appreciate it — even though we went through a lot of dysfunction, I guess you could call it, for lack of a better term. But regardless of that, a lot of people still supported and still came out, cheered loud as hell for the game of basketball and for the Nets,” Durant said. “It was here in this borough of Brooklyn, the little brother. It was always fun being a little brother and representing the little brother in the city.”
Durant eventually requested a trade from the Nets and was moved to Phoenix at the 2023 deadline in exchange for Mikal Bridges (whom they later flipped to New York), Cameron Johnson (who is on the trade block), and several draft picks. Durant expressed positive feelings for the franchise, Lewis writes in another story.
“Definitely, I want to see this franchise do well,” Durant said. “What is it, 12 or 13 picks that they’ve got? Assets, that’s the most important thing with a rebuilding group is the assets. The product on the floor, it might be inconsistent some games. They beat us early in the season and looked great, and then you lose to the Clippers by 40 or 50 and that might not look great.
“But when you look at the big picture, you’ve got young guys that are getting experience and playing time. You’re building assets and getting future picks. And hopefully you can draft well, put the team together well. So I think they’re walking in the right direction. I think the fans definitely want to see some great basketball on the floor, and I think it’s coming for this team.”
We have more from the Nets:
- One could make the case that Johnson could fit in on any of the NBA’s 30 teams, making him one of the most coveted players on the trade block ahead of the deadline, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. Johnson is averaging 19.4 points per game while shooting 41.9% from three this season. As we’ve written, the Nets are thought to maintain a high asking price for Johnson.
- After enjoying a hot streak from beyond the arc in late December, Noah Clowney has been misfiring on his shot in recent weeks, Lewis observes. Clowney has knocked down just 33.3% of his shots, including 30.8% of his three-point tries, in January. “The shots I was getting [lately] were not as easy as I had been getting. The shots I was getting before were a lot easier,” Clowney said. “The shots I’m getting now are still easy, though. I’ve got to go out and make some of them. It ain’t much to it.” How the second-year big man handles this adversity will be telling, Lewis opines.
- Trendon Watford has missed the last 19 games for the Nets due to a hamstring injury, but it sounds like he’s inching closer to a return. According to Lewis (Twitter link), Watford is progressing well and has been cleared for contact. Meanwhile, Ziaire Williams is day-to-day with an ankle injury. A starter for 16 games, Williams missed Brooklyn’s past two contests.
Wouldnt be surprised KD went back to the Nets at the end of his career to retire there.
Unless Sean Marks is gone by the time he gets around to it I doubt he’d retire with the Nets.
Also, a lot of bad blood between Joe Tsai and KD. Tsai feels KD and Kyrie were mercenaries and embarrassed the franchise.
We all know what happened when the honeymoon was over KD…
The divorce wasn’t pretty…
If Kyrie was in the headspace he is now back then that team might have had a real chance at greatness.
Hard to do when the every person in the media makes you a villain
The timing of the Brooklyn team wasn’t great, with the pandemic and injuries (both to the stars and roleplayers) happening when they did, but throwing three #1 Alpha-dog types together like that, especially since Kyrie was infamously a headcase at the time and Harden had just given up on his team, wasn’t a great idea. The Heatles were better off with Bosh being more willing to be a connective piece and Wade having experience playing next to a superstar in Shaq, for example. All three of those guys were more winning-focused too. KD didn’t take in those lessons next to Steph, Kyrie didn’t next to Bron, and while Harden was willing to be a connector, he wasn’t able to adjust to injury and Kyrie being a weirdo. The bad blood created by trying to demand pieces like past-his-prime Deandre Jordan play big roles over younger, better players didn’t work out well either. It’s the kind of thing people always blame LeBron for with signing big-name old guys (though that’s more on the FOs of the ’18 Cavs and ’22 Lakers), except worse because they weren’t minimum signings for upside or roleplayer depth.
KD’s being honest about his feelings, but he’s not telling the full story here.
KD is delusional. Fans appreciated those times? Please…
GMKD is a total failure. Stick to playing.
KD has always chased Bron. Like we all learn one day. Be careful what you wish for !!
Clowney is a nice talent. He is definitely part of the future. Best thing Nets can do now. Is load up for this draft. They could go for three picks. With right trades. I expect Nets to clean house. Just look at Rockets and Pistons and Thunder. This draft is better than anything they had thru their rebuilds.