Kevin Durant is not worthy of hatred. He came, saw, and didn't conquer, but appeared to play every night in Brooklyn and beyond, delivering one of the biggest shots in the history of the lesser-known New York ball.
He created a fallaway 2 pointer with 1 second left in Round 7. This felt like a three-pointer to everyone watching. This is Durant's "my big ass foot." His big ass foot that was barely on the line. In my thirty years of writing about city games as a columnist in this market, I've never seen more clutches than that.
Brooklyn's remaining two years of turmoil exclude the one year of Durrants spent recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, suffering from a three-peat loss to the Golden State.
Go ahead, Kyrie Irving and James Harden – , but mostly Irving – Big Three,by the time Net respects Durrants' trade demands. I blame you for changing to something that will be big free. ..Go ahead and encapsulate the owner Joe Tsai and the general manager Sean Marks. Capsules can be thrown directly into the sun to preside over one of the most embarrassing franchise face plants in all American sports.
So Marks learned exactly what to build a championship team. Did you get it? Greg Popovich from San Antonio.
But Durant is as free as pursuing personal and professional well-being – "IMME, I DO ME, AND I CHILL" KD announced to his 20 million Twitter followers Do – he also needs to be held accountable for his choices, just like Marks, Tsai, and Irving, they need to be held accountable. And by asking Brooklyn on Thursday, Durant officially made what was long suspected:
He probably made the worst deal in NBA history. It belongs to two NBA Finals MVP awards, one league MVP award, and his resume, which has established the highest position in history.
By exchanging Stephen Curry for Irving, Durant sacrificed at least one championship ring and betrayed his vision of hosting the Golden State at the Hamptons six years ago. A delegation that has just eliminated the Thunder team in the playoffs. The Warriors were convinced that Durant would fit their program perfectly and become a dynasty. It's a perfect marriage between a selfless champion (2015) and a superstar who needs ring verification. As long as the superstar can ignore the turmoil about joining the stack team that just beat him.
And humans, the noise was intense and came from all directions. Whether the leftover influence of that criticism and public dispute with Draymond Green colluded an opportunity to wander KD on a new adventure in 2019 and prove that he can collect his winners. It doesn't matter anymore.
That's all that matters right now: Durrants has the opportunity to spend the rest of his prime with curry, the greatest shooter of all time, a professional pro, and a rare franchise player who is willing to take on the role of Robin. After playing Batman himself, to Durrants Batman. Abandoning Irving's partner who abandoned LeBron James (and the legendary Celtics) never seemed like a good idea. The Golden State title three years later seems to be a worse idea than Brooklyn exchanged for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2013.
However, Durant did more than just exchange Curry-for-Irving. He also exchanged Steve Kerr for Steve Nash (via Kenny Atkinson and Jacque Vaughn) and Bob Myers for Marks. It will be lunch time tomorrow.
Durant did everything he could to make it work on the court. One of his performances in the 2021 Mill Walkie series was, well, the best form of basketball. It was an art. Don't forget. I can not forget.
Maybe healthy Irving and healthy Harden helped Durant win it all last year. It may not be. The fact that the healthy Durant and Irving were wiped out by the Celtics, former Nash assistant Ime Udoka, and another star Nets went out of the door in the first round of the year has been challenged. not.
Also, the fact that Irving's Irvingness failed to set this epic and forced his over-employer to make a decision Durant did not like is not a problem. Therefore, after Kyrie opted in, KD opted out. The New Jersey Nets were long defined by dysfunction and the comic relief they provided for the rest of the league, at least until Jason Kidd appeared (although Kidd eventually demanded trade as well). But the rapid growth of Durrants from Brooklyn takes a systematic cake.
It's unbelievable that Durant doubles down his mistakes and tries to take Irving everywhere. In any case, his partnership with Point Guard is already in the era.
At that time, Charlotte was trading with Kobe Bryant. Seattle traded Scottie Pippen. Milwaukee has traded with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Philadelphia traded with Wilt Chamberlain. St. Louis traded with Bill Russell.
Kevin Durant matched them all by exchanging Stephen Curry with a player who was the exact opposite of Stephen Curry. And the deal will be an unforgettable part of his record.