This is a basketball disaster, a basketball catastrophe, a basketball cataclysm. Ignore the spins generated by all of these by all stakeholders. Ignore the spectacular haul that is likely to start heading to Brooklyn right away. This is not an exaggeration. This is not an exaggeration.
This is a basketball armageddon.
Three years after Nets invited Kevin Durant into the town to surprise the NBA, Durant and his business manager Rich Kleiman requested a dealThree years later, after Brooklyn boss Sean Marks looked like the smartest kid in his class, and after no one completely discouraged thinking that way, he agreed with Durant's request. did. That's it. that's all.
That's scary. It's miserable. Cut it up anyway.
For the net, it always seems to be spec-based and always means the end of a basketball experiment that feels heavy on what-if and what-might-be. They agreed to fund a year away from sports when Durrants recovered from Achilles tendon surgery. We consider this to be a small investment in return for potentially huge amounts. They agreed to Durrants' engagement terms, including signing the benevolent Kyrie Irving and the glacier DeAndre Jordan.
In return, they got two years of great basketball from Durant. But they also played three playoff series at that time and lost two. They endured a year of turmoil from 2021 to 22. Much of it was in favor of Irving, and it is clear that Durrants' thinking has changed from all-in. It hasn't started yet — to get out of here.
Nets is certainly unprecedented You'll receive returns From Phoenix, Miami, or other suitors, and there will be some useful work going towards Brooklyn, but that wasn't the story that was supposed to define the net. .. They brought Durant here and won the first title of the franchise since the last ABA Championship in 1976. period.
It was a title or bust on June 30, 2019.
By June 30, 2022, I was just bust.
However, Durant is also unharmed and cannot escape. Part of the charm of coming to Brooklyn (in addition to trying to duplicate the blueprint for the "super team" copyrighted by LeBron James), he jumped to Oklahoma City for the Golden State. Sometimes it was to reverse the struck label. The operation imprinted a lap he couldn't swing even after collecting him shameless front-running mercenaries, the Warriors and the Bookend Finals MVP.
Now he wants to leave Brooklyn. Certainly he has a reason. If one of them is Killy — well, it was Durant, the de facto GM, who made the acquisition of Irving an important part of his willingness to play at Barclays Center. If one of them was Steve Nash, he overmatched (at best) in his first two years as a coach and was overwhelmed (at worst). I wasn't crazy about Kenny Atkinson.
One of them breaks the belief that the net can actually win the championship as it is currently being built. Well, he's probably right. And when he gets to places like Phoenix and Miami, he has a reputation for Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, just like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Ride the Franchise Alpha dog's coat tail.
And people like Charles Barkley — recently Duranthad his own bus to driveif he wanted to be remembered among the rare eternities of the sport. Claimed to be necessary — would be justified by hitting him forever.
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The entire script is star-crossed from the beginning. Irving played only 20 games in 2019-20. Irving and James Harden were injured against Bucks a year later, near the best time of professional Durrants. Irving's vaccination statushas been hanging like a dark cloud this past season. Harden was bullied on his way out of town and culminated in a humiliating four-game sweep by the Celtics.
The only silver lining was the brilliance of Durrants in 90 regular season games and 16 postseason games. No one can doubt his skills in another world. And he seemed to really care where the net was and where it was heading.
Until he didn't.
Three years after Nets allowed him to dream bigger and bolder than ever before he demanded trade and was told that his wishes would be respected. They could believe in themselves The hype that they were the smartest kids in their class. Today, superstars have a disjointed reputation and GM's vision is tattered. They try to rotate it differently. Don't believe me This was a failure.
Epic, historic, unmitigated failure.
