Kevin Durant is proud of what he thought the Brooklyn Nets were building before things quickly fell apart due to “dysfunction.”
Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden played only 16 games together, and their time as a trio became more famous for the issues off the court than the basketball they played.
However, when Durant returned to Barclays Center on Wednesday for the second time since his trade to Phoenix, fans rushed to get his autograph before the game against the Phoenix Suns. Durant scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Phoenix’s 108-84 win.
Durant’s Thoughts on the Support and Chaos
“Even though we went through a lot of dysfunction I guess you could call it, for lack of a better term,” Durant said, “but regardless of that, a lot of people in those stands still supported, still came out and cheered loud as hell for the game of basketball and for the Nets, so that’s what stood out the most.”
The Trio’s Struggles with Injuries and COVID
Durant, Irving, and Harden came together in 2019, with Harden joining via trade in January 2021. However, all three struggled with injuries, and Irving missed much of the 2021-22 season after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Durant reflected on the trio’s time together: “I think that was the main thing, that we just didn’t get on the court together,” he said. “A lot of injuries. Injuries to me, James, and Kyrie kind of played a factor, along with COVID. That whole thing just confused a lot of (stuff). But I think basketball-wise, chemistry-wise, camaraderie-wise, teamwork-wise, I thought it was the perfect, ideal situation.”
A Title Contender That Never Was
In the 2020-21 season, the Nets looked like championship favorites when all three were healthy. However, both Harden and Irving were injured in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, and despite Durant’s strong performance in Game 7, the Milwaukee Bucks came back from a 2-0 deficit to win the series.
The following season, Irving’s absences and Durant’s injury caused the Nets to struggle, and Harden asked to be traded. By the 2023 trade deadline, both Irving and Durant were traded. Durant believes the team’s failure to succeed wasn’t due to bad attitudes, but just bad luck.
“There was a lot of narratives going around about each individual player — me, James, and Kyrie — about our mentality as men,” Durant said. “But once we got on the court and once we actually played together, once you saw the culture that we were building, it was something that the fans could get behind.”
The Special Moments That Fans Didn’t See
Durant added, “That first year when James got here halfway through the season, that was some of the most incredible basketball that I’ve seen, I’ve played in. But more so than anything, the locker room, the bus rides, the plane rides, the hotels, that was the culture we were building and a lot of people didn’t get to see it but I wish they could have. It was special.”
The Nets Now and What Could Have Been
Now, the Nets are in a rebuilding phase. Durant hopes that one day the team can reach the level he thought they were headed for.
“It didn’t culminate into a championship, but people who had season tickets, who get into their car in the cold, come down and watch us play, still remember some moments, some regular-season games, a couple playoff games,” Durant said. “Some moments that people can hold onto and you can feel that love when I come through here.”
