NEW YORK — Kevin Durant is proud of what he believed the Nets were building in Brooklyn before “dysfunction” brought it quickly crashing down.
Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden played just 16 games together and their tenure became better known for the chaos off the court than the brilliant basketball they delivered on it.
But it seemed the bad times were forgotten Wednesday night, when a large number of fans rushed to get Durant’s autograph before the Nets’ game against the Phoenix Suns in his second trip back to Barclays Center since being traded.
“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.”
He and Irving came together in the summer of 2019. Harden was acquired in a trade in January 2021. But all three battled injuries and Irving was largely off the court in the 2021-22 season after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19,
“I think that was the main thing, that we just didn’t get on the court together,” Durant 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.”
The Nets looked like a title favorite when the three were healthy in the 2020-21 season. But both Harden and Irving were injured in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals and Milwaukee overcame a 2-0 deficit and Durant’s brilliance in Game 7 to win the series.
Irving’s absences and Durant’s injury sent the Nets tumbling the next season and Harden asked to be traded. Irving and Durant were dealt away days apart at the 2023 trade deadline. Durant maintains it was bad luck more than bad attitudes that created such an empty era.
“There was a lot of narratives going around about each individual player — me, James and Kyrie — about our mentality as men. But once we got on the court and once we actually played together, once you seen the culture that we were building, it was something that the fans could get behind I think,” Durant said.
“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.”
This season isn’t, with the Nets rebuilding. Maybe they can eventually get to where Durant believed they were once headed.
“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.”
Source: espn.com