The Brooklyn Nets are the latest NBA superteam, an offensive player with two former MVPs of Kevin Durant and James Harden and the owner of one of the greatest photos in the history of the NBA Finals in Kyrie Irving, who is also considered to have the best handles the sport has seen.
But LeBron James was unprepared to declare the trio an unprecedented ensemble when asked about Brooklyn ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first game against the new Nets look on Thursday.
“Um, have I forgotten about KD, Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) already?” James said after the Lakers won 112-104 Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. – I mean, you’re going there.
James knows the Golden State Warriors well – he defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers for back-to-back championships in 2017 and ’18.
But most of the points that Durant, Curry and Thompson averaged in the three seasons together were 75.8 per game in 2018-19.
Durant (29.0), Irving (28.3) and Harden (23.9) entered Tuesday with an average of 80.7 points for the Nets this season.
Thursday’s showdown will lack some firepower. LA will be without Anthony Davis, who suffered a calf strain and aggravated Achilles tendonitis in his right leg on Sunday. He will see team doctors when the Lakers return home Wednesday.
“We’ll see how he responds to treatment and we’ll reevaluate it in a few weeks,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Tuesday.
On the other hand, Durant missed the last two games with a left hamstring streak, and Irving won Tuesday’s comeback win against the Phoenix Suns with a tight back.
That being said, James said he is looking forward to seeing these networks in person for the first time.
“It’s always interesting for me to go against some of the best guys in the game – and they got three of them,” he said. “They have three of the best boys in the game. They would definitely like to be full when you play against a team like that and see, like, at that time of the season, how you fit in – how you fit in against some of the best teams in the league. And obviously we won’t be full on Thursday. But other than that, yes, I like to go there and be on the floor with some of the best games to play. “
James’ teammate Montrezl Harrell was less enthusiastic. He was part of the new brilliant NBA toy with the LA Clippers last season, when the historically weak franchise added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and became an instant favorite to win the title.
Maybe he went through all this hype, just to be part of the Clippers playoffs in the Denver Nuggets, taught him that the regular season is not always the best indicator of post-season success.
“Honestly, I don’t really care,” Harrell said. “We go into every game with a game plan, we know offensively, defensively what we want to do to win that game and it will be the same thing we will have to do when we play on Thursday.
“It’s nothing different. We don’t try that game. We don’t put extra emphasis on that game. It’s like any other game – we take it one at a time. We’re still learning, we’re still growing and we’re still building with each other and we’re going to have to we do it to a higher standard, losing one of our pieces [in Davis]. “