There are players who have been antagonists in the eyes of fans, and the Nets have recruited them to now be one of the leading teams in the NBA
In the era of the “super teams” in the NBA, 2021 offers us a very special one, one that looks like “super villains”. The Brooklyn Nets brought in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last season and James Harden this season, three big stars in the league, but also three players who were antagonists in the eyes of fans, analysts and even former teammates.
Kyrie Irving, champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, was the first to decide to join the New York team and was the only one who had a stake last season. Irving for some a “misunderstood genius” for others a “diva; has a long history of disagreements with various organizations and teammates; from forcing him out of Cleveland to leaving the shadow of Lebron James, whom he threw clues to a few years later and who recently mocked when he missed a free throw in the Lakers game against the Nets, to his tumultuous stage at the Boston Celtics and their recent decision not to talk to the media.
Kevin Durant joined Irving in the same free agency, recovering from an Achilles tendon injury he suffered in the 2019 finals with the Golden State Warriors., KD saw no action in 2020. For his critics, Durant was a player who chose the easy path to becoming an NBA champion, joining a Warriors team that had already reached two finals and won the Larry O’Brien trophy before by his arrival and also had stars such as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. Although Durant proved his worth in the team by becoming the MVP of the next two California championships, there are those who still show that he did not stay in the Oklahoma Thunder to try to win a title with Russell Westbrook, who did not like his partner’s decision and whose relationship was broken by the way things have been since then.
In the end, the Nets opted for a James Harden, who did not want to continue with the Houston Rockets and who was criticized for appearing overweight in the pre-season and in the first games of the Texan team. Brooklyn had to give up four players and three first-round picks to buy Harden in a 4-team deal. The “Beard” movement has been criticized by his then-comrades. Before leaving, Harden said “the situation could not be remedied” and thanked him for his time in Houston, to which John Wall later blamed him: “There are 9 games and you want to get off the boat,” while Demarcus Cousins He cut her off in a disrespectful way she handled her departure. James Harden, the NBA’s top scorer in three seasons, has also been criticized for his lack of playoff success and lack of commitment to the defensive game.
So far, even though Irving and Durant have come off the field with injuries, not seriously, at different times, the Nets are chasing the top of the NBA East, with a series of 8-game wins. The combination of talent in Brooklyn leaves the Championship as the only happy ending and, although this is not usually reserved for “supervisors”, Kyrie, KD and Harden certainly think otherwise.