How the Brooklyn Nets Destroyed a Superteam | The Downfall of the Big 3

we're here it happened it finally happened James Harden is going to the Nets they made a blockbuster deal to acquire one of the NBA's most prolific scorers the beer himself James Harden Durant Hardin Kyrie all on one team these are three of the greatest shot creators and shot makers we've ever seen on one floor together could that next team win the championship oh yeah it's probably the greatest Trio ever of just pure offensive genius [Music] oh I want to get to the Brooklyn Nets who are in utter failure I actually hope Kyrie Irving gets cut I mean this is a disgrace you cannot post that why not everybody posts everything else James Harden wants a trade to the 76ers today I'm told Kyrie has requested a trade Kevin Durant is a Phoenix Sun super teams they've always existed in NBA history in the distant 1980s there were the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics who ran the league with an iron fist in the 90s it was MJ's Chicago Bulls that dominated winning six rings and six tries in the early 2000s Kobe and Shaq repeated while the San Antonio Spurs big three collected a handful of rings in the 2010s it was none other than the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat who reigned Supreme as two of the most talented squads ever assembled in basketball the super teams that people reminisce about most are the ones that succeeded but what about the ones that failed before 2021 discussions about failed super teams were always planned each team that would be brought up would always have one common denominator and that's that the main Superstars they acquired were all out of their primes for years there wasn't a consensus top team that took the cake as the true number one most disappointing super team until today now one Squad stands alone as the biggest failure of any super team in NBA history the Brooklyn Nets their big three was composed of three borderline Superstar level talents all in the primes of their career Kevin Durant James Harden and Kyrie Irving were a trio of Hall of Famers each with an illustrious resume to their name the thought of those three on the same Squad with one another sent shivers down opposing team spines they weren't just expected to win one Championship no they were expected to form a dynasty yet just a year and a half after forming the Nets big three deteriorated in one of the most confusing and unlucky Fashions imaginable nothing is guaranteed in sports and the Brooklyn Nets found that out the hard way but how are they even in a position to build this big three to begin with well it all started with the worst trade in NBA history in the summer of 2016 the Brooklyn Nets found themselves in the lowest position of franchise could possibly be in they were a bottom five team in the NBA and had zero first round picks to go along with it three years prior they had traded four first round picks for Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce and Jason Terry three veterans with championship experience who were aging and way out of their primes it was an attempt to build a super team and it failed miserably one playoff series Victory is all the Nets could muster following this trade their team was old and lethargic being stomped on by both the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks in 2014 and 2015. following these elves the Nets declined into the worst team in the league winning 21 games in 2015-16 and 20 games in 2016-17 instead of being rewarded for their suffering with high draft picks they had to watch in horror as the boss since Celtics feasted on their mistake that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade ended up Landing the Seas the third pick in 2016 and the first pick in 2017. Boston selected both Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum with these picks adding two franchise cornerstones for essentially nothing the Nets were quite possibly in the most nightmarish position any team had ever been in in NBA history so how did they escape this horrible situation once Sean marks was hired as their new general manager in February of 2016. things began changing fast Sean marks expertly traded and signed for players would evolve into key pieces for the Nets popular names of today like Charis Levert Spencer Dinwiddie and D'Angelo Russell were all acquired for pennies on the dollar the 2017-18 season was when Brooklyn really started to turn the corner they may have only won 28 games but a culture was starting to be built players like Joe Harris Jared Allen and Ronde Hollis Jefferson were exciting prospects that had arrived at a thin air at this point the Nets had to chip on their shoulder and were eager to show the league that they weren't some tanking mess to overlook once the 2018-19 season arrived the Nets progressed into one of the most exciting young teams in the league they smashed expectations winning 42 games and earning a playoff appearance as the six seed they were led by an All-Star in D'Angelo Russell with countless ascending pieces alongside him the Nets often went viral on social media for having the time of their life on the court Brooklyn's bench was notoriously giddy with excitement after every Nets field goal dancing around like it was a party and it was each Brooklyn Nets game in the 2018-19 season was a sight to see this was a franchise that had been resurrected from the grave they had previously dug themselves into their culture had been revamped into one that was represented by hard work and toughness this squad may have lost in round one but they gave Nets fans a rare feeling they had lacked for so long optimism that vaunted Brooklyn culture that had been developed didn't just catch the eye of Nets vanslow the top stars in the league had become well aware of Brooklyn's rise and they wanted a piece of the pie once the summer of 2019 arrived Kevin Durant arguably the best player in the world was intrigued by the Nets they were an attractive destination and it was all thanks to the great job Brooklyn's management had done in rebuilding on the afternoon of June 30th 2019 staggering headlines were revealed to the NBA world Duran had signed with the Nets and brought along his friends Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan shocking news and this sent Brooklyn into a frenzy they replaced D'Angelo Russell with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant adding two stars to an already stack horror the Brooklyn Nets had done it they had saved themselves from the claws of purgatory avenging themselves from their poor Celtics trade of the past however these incredible signings did come with some risk Kyrie Irving was a questionable locker room figure in 2017 he had forced himself out of Cleveland because he didn't want to be the second option to LeBron James once he was traded to Boston his tenure with the Celtics was anything but fun the team imploded in the 2018-19 season they fell well below their Championship expectations and got crushed in round two by the Milwaukee Bucks Kyrie failed to step up as the leader the Seas desperately desired and left Boston being the despised figure on the flip side KD was undergoing recovery for an Achilles injury he suffered during the 2019 finals this Achilles Terror was seen as a death sentence for Durant and there were many concerns that he never returned to the same player he was before this injury but the frightening risks were worth the possible reward Kyrie and KD on the same team with an elite bench who could possibly stop that NBA fans had no answers to this question and anxiously observed the Nets with a watchful eye for now the 2019-20 season was in the hands of Kyrie Irving as the number one option and it was less than stellar the Nets went 35 and 37 earning the seven seed with Kyrie only playing 20 games out of 72. Irving made the headlines throughout the season with his odd quotes after January 2020 lost to the Sixers Irving claimed the team he did one or two more pieces to compliment him and his teammates it's pretty glaring that we need you know one more piece or two more pieces that will complement myself KD DJ GT Spence Carrison you know we'll see how that evolves it's extremely rare for a star player to flat out admit to the public that his team needed more this quote raised many eyebrows with most believing it was unfair for Irving to critique his team when the best player KD wasn't even playing Kyrie's relationship with the Nets management particularly the owner Joe Sai and the executive Sean marks was a key factor throughout his time as a net quotes like the Shirley didn't help strengthen that Bond Brooklyn was far less exciting than their past 2018-19 campaign ending their season with a sweep to the Toronto Raptors in the bubble nobody thought much of this owl the Nets were short-handed missing Kyrie KV and a boatload of rotation pieces due to various injuries the most important moment from this season didn't come in this round one exit rather it came on March 7 2020 foreign coach for four years was surprisingly canned one month before the playoffs were set to tip off Brooklyn was the seventh seed at the time and fiery in their head coach so suddenly sent shockwaves through the basketball world so why did the Nets choose to part ways throughout the 2019-20 season there were grumblings that both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving weren't thrilled with Atkinson's coaching style there was frustration among the Nets players regarding how the rotations were constructed more specifically involving Jared Allen starting over DeAndre Jordan when Kyrie and kd sign with Brooklyn back in the summer of 2019 DeAndre had joined them and the two stars didn't like the idea of their good friend coming off the bench Durant was also reportedly underwhelmed by the Nets play and told Atkinson in a team meeting that they were not building the proper culture traits necessary for a title Contender one satkinson was fire tired and replaced by interim head coach Chuck Vaughn one of the first decisions Fallen made was to start DeAndre Jordan DeAndre may have been a worse player than Allen but the Nets wanted to keep Kyrie and Katie satisfied on September 3rd 2020 Steve Nash was hired as the Nets new head coach fast forward to October of 2020 and Kyrie Irving Was Heard on a podcast denying the allegations that he got Kenny fired Irving said that Atkinson was great with the Nets back in 2018 but he wanted a head coach who would understand that he was a human being first when asked about the Nash hiring Kyrie said the team didn't really need a head coach he claimed that he and KD could be the head coach and that it was a collaborative effort Kinney was great for the group that he served and I was very appreciative of what he was giving us throughout the season when we were playing we always heard how great Nash was or saw how great Nashville's as a player but also when you get to know him as a person you understand and why he can coexist with us because we don't need somebody to come in and put their coaching philosophy on everything that we're doing and change up the wheel and yo you guys need to start doing this and we start running on the first day of practice and just like no I need somebody that's going to understand that I am a human being first Kyrie specifically mentioning Atkinson making the players run during practice speaks for itself she didn't like how Kenny was coaching them and wanted someone who would let the players have a say Steve Nash did just that this event and how the Nets reacted to it said a dangerous president for the franchise they had officially established that they were willing to do whatever was needed to keep Kyrie and Katie happy Atkinson was a key reason why the Nets had built such an incredible culture to begin with and now he was gone in the blink of an eye but once the Flames died down there was little worry in the city of Brooklyn Kyrie and KD were finally healthy in December of 2020 overwhelming I was building in Brooklyn and it was time for the 711 Duo to take over New York the first two games of the Kyrie Irving Kevin Durant era and Brooklyn went flawlessly the Nets destroyed both the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics to open up the season 2-0 Kevin Durant despite suffering the most brutal injury in sports looked just as dominant as he was in the past Kyrie was Unstoppable nailing 17 threes in the first two games things were rolling in Net's world but then the first Domino fell there's many factors to blame for why the KD Kyrie era failed but one event that is barely mentioned is the Spencer Dinwiddie ACL Terror dinwoody the longtime net since 2016 suffered a partially torn ACL in the third game of the season against Charlotte this one injury sent the Nets into a panic perhaps their most important piece outside of Kyrie and KD was done for the season and this forced them to start searching for help luckily for Brooklyn help was available but it wouldn't be cheap Seventeen hundred miles away in the great state of Texas Houston Rocket Superstar James Harden wanted out the Nets already had a great team constructed on paper but the idea of the beer joining The Fray was incredibly tempting the question was in if Brooklyn was able to do it they had the assets to pull off the deal rather the question was if they should do it while they contemplated this decision other questionable news started growing from another place on the team from January 7th 2021 to January 18 2021. Kyrie Irving was absent from the team it was reported that he was taking a mental health day on January 12th he was seen at his sister's birthday party without a mask on which violated the NBA's health and safety protocols she ended up missing seven straight games due to personal reasons which was the Net's breaking point they glanced at their injury list which showed Spencer Dinwiddie an integral piece that was down indefinitely then they glanced at Kyrie and his history of antics they didn't just one-harden they needed him Not only was he a former MVP that would make the Nets a super team but he was also Kyrie Insurance in case Irving was to miss any more time in the future on January 13 2021 a bombshell headline was released to the public the beard was in Brooklyn and the greatest big three in NBA history had just been established the Nets gave up Jared Allen Karis lever and every first round pick until 2027 in this deal in other news that went down on this day Kyrie Irving who is still gone from the team with little explanation was seen on a politician's zoom call finally on January 20th 2021 Irving returned to the team apologizing for his absence claiming he had some family and personal issues to deal with it was understandable enough most Nets fans just shrug their shoulders the real topic of conversation was James Harden he was now paired with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant Hardin was a one-time MVP who is coming off of three straight scoring title Awards unfortunately this scoring led to little winning in Houston Hardin had made quite the ugly exit from the Rockets he was out of shape and had criticized many of his teammates and the roster construction on the way out Kyrie and KD may have had their championships but Hardin did not it was the last thing he needed to complete his career this squad had the potential to be the most deadly team in NBA history they were the overwhelming favorites to win the championship all they had to do was play and the results would take care of themselves sounds simple enough right the Brooklyn Nets were 7-6 when they acquired James Harden by the end of the season they were 48 and 24. Hardin quickly proved his worth evolving into an MVP candidate the beard had primarily played the shooting guard position throughout his career with the scoring first mentality in Brooklyn that changed Kyrie told hard burden upon his arrival that you're the point guard and I'm gonna play the shooting guard James agreed and switch from a primary scorer to a primary playmaker The Big Three didn't play much together though due to various injuries but when those three stars were on the floor together the result was otherworldly a prime example of their dominance came in a February 2021 game against the LA Clippers facing a Kawhi Leonard and Paul George LED defense The Big Three combined for 29 Points on 75 field goal shooting in the fourth quarter to get the win the jokes were over reality was here all 29 other teams watched this performance in complete Terror there was nobody that could stop the big three Brooklyn Nets when they were on the court but then the injuries began piling up Kevin Durant and James Harden both dealt with hamstring issues that shortened their regular season KD and Hardin played Just 35 and 36 games out of 72. while Kyrie played 54. the acclaimed super team hadn't gotten all to the fairy tale star that fans had hoped for but there was little fear in Brooklyn as long as they were healthy by the postseason nothing else mattered the most shocking moment involving this net Squad didn't come from anyone in the big three rather it came from the regular season free agent signings in March of 2021 Brooklyn signed both Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge off the buyout Market despite these two being role players who were out of their primes the NBA world was sent into an uproar NBA fans on social media screamed saying how much help does Brooklyn need all Nets fans could do with smugly laugh and shrug their shoulders everything was lining up perfectly for a championship Aldridge may have fired a few weeks after signing with the team due to her conditions but Brooklyn was still stacked a testament to how Elite the Nets were was that despite these injuries by the end of the season they still sat comfortably at the second seed come play off time they face the pattern and bruised Boston Celtics in round one they crushed them [Applause] plays it in any possible concerns doubts or questions about the Nets big three were evaporated in this five-game Beatdown Brooklyn Works Boston like a part-time job annihilating the Celtics and winning the series for one the greatest moment that the Nets Big 3 ever had came in game four of this series in TD Garden in this game Brooklyn's big three combined for an incomprehensible 104 points total three players 104 points Hardin was incredible Kyrie was masterful and Durant was a wizard yeah the Celtics may have been missing key pieces like Rob Williams and Jalen brown but nobody cared the Nets had just dropped 141 points on the Celtics Dome after the game as the cherry on top Kyrie Irving stomped on the Celtics logo she had been mercilessly booed throughout this series by Angry Celtics fans and he had beaten them the championship story was aligning perfectly Kyrie would win a ring and get his revenge against all his doubters James Harden would finally grab his desperately coveted Championship that had haunted him for so long Kevin Durant would prove to his haters that he could lead a team to the promised land without Steph Curry for just a moment following the Nets closing out Boston in game five at home everything was perfect the dream was well on its way to becoming a reality this was it Brooklyn now is the greatest chance they had to win a championship in their franchise's history if only it could have ended this way winning a championship in the NBA doesn't just take skill it doesn't just take perfect roster construction and Elite star power it also takes luck from this point onwards Brooklyn would deteriorate into the most unlucky team in the NBA and it all started just a few seconds into game one against the Milwaukee Bucks in round two [Music] James Harden had re-injured his hamstring on the first offensive play of the game Hardin made a routine drive to the paint only to come up hobbling nobody knew it at the time but this play was the beginning of the end to the net super team as Hardin slowly exited the arena the unbreakable confidence that the Nets had was shaken this injury would officially Mark the end of James Harden's Elite play as a net from January 2021 to June of 2021 Hardin played like an incredible MVP candidate for the Nets following this injury he would never again reach the Superstar level in Brooklyn it's easy to say that this injury was the sole reason for why Hardin was never the same as Annette but that would be ignoring what occurred after this the blame for hardin's decline lies squarely on the shoulders of the Brooklyn Nets organization they mishandled this hamstring strain to the absolute worst degree imaginable you saw the fact that he had no burst he couldn't get away that usually is a transition layup but we'll get back to this shortly an injury like this was already a tough pill for the Nets to swallow but still they prevailed the Kyrie and KD Duo held this ship together destroying the Bucks in both games one and two game two more specifically was pure destruction the Nets without Harden beat the Bucks by nearly 40 points Kyrie and KD combined for 54 points trouncy in the Bucks and restoring confidence in Brooklyn as long as these two were healthy hopes were still high game three against Milwaukee was a chance for the Nets to send the Bucks to the grave but something else more shocking happened the Nets played poorly that's right the unbeatable freight train finally came back down to earth Kyrie and KD both shot poorly while Giannis and Chris Middleton had incredible performances still this game was extremely winnable the Nets even took a three-point lead with a minute and 23 seconds left in the fourth this could have been their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals all they had to do was play defense unfortunately the Nets had a breakdown they lost their lead and let Bruce Brown take two key shots that were bricks in the final 20 seconds a horrible ending and Steve Nash deserves the blame for such incompetence the Nets had two of the most clutch players in the game on the floor in both Kyrie and KD but opted for a role player to take the two most important shots down by three with two seconds left all the Nets could muster was a difficult shot by KD that breaked off the back of the rim had the Nets won this game and gone up 3-0 the series would have been over instead the Bucks were right back in it still the Nets remain favored to advance once game 4 rolled around though that all changed yeah Brooklyn was trailing by six in the second quarter when yet another devastating injury hit them this time it was Kyrie Irving who was down he landed awkwardly on Giannis antetokumpo's leg jumping up for a layup that meant that both Kyrie and Hardin were now sidelined leaving Kevin Durant all by himself as the Lone Star the tables had now turned Brooklyn went from the favorites to win this series to The Underdogs just a few weeks ago everything looked perfect for the Nets now their worst nightmare was being realized they lost game four and the series was tied at two but help was on the way and it would come in the form of a hobble James Harden many thought the beard was done for her that his hamstring injury would prevent him from playing any remaining games in this series instead it was announced that Hardin would be returning in game five which would go down as the absolute worst decision that he ever made in his career the beard had a grade 2 hamstring strain an injury that took four to eight weeks to heal sawhart and make his return to plane in only 10 days it was a completely nonsensical dangerous decision to come back this quickly but Hardin couldn't care less throughout his 12-year career thus far his chances at a ring were denied over and over again in heartbreaking fashion this may have been his best chance and he wasn't going to sit on the sideline Brooklyn's doctors had ruled this initial injury as hamstring tightness which was false it was actually agree to strain the Nets had incorrectly hidden the true details of hardin's injury to the public under no circumstances should he have been allowed to play but Brooklyn's desire to get a ring triumphed over any morals Hardin played 45 40 and 53 minutes in games five six and seven of this series on a crippled hamstring this deteriorated his lower body and could have permanently altered his quickness and speed that made him so good to begin with regardless the beard was back on the floor with KD and these two left it all in the court in an attempt to save their season Kevin Durant played every single minute of game five scoring a 49-point triple-double to just barely beat the Bucks Brooklyn had taken a 3-2 lead thanks to KD and his unreal offensive talent but this would be the last W the Nets would get they lost both games six and seven to drop the series in game seven KD gave it his all scoring 48 points with just six seconds left in regulation with Brooklyn down by two Durant turned and hit an impossible three-pointer that gave the Nets a lead only one thing upon Second Glance it was a two Durant's foot was just barely on the line a back-breaking unlucky result and Durant's reaction to this told the whole story by this point KD and the rest of his teammates were exhausted no end was more fitting than the final shot of the game in overtime Durant ISO Drew holiday with his Squad down by two and airballed the jumper he was simply out of energy the Nets had a time out and decided not to use it it's clear that a minute of rest was much needed for Durant and that a proper play should have been drawn up instead Steve Nash did nothing allowing the tumultuous 2020 and 21 season for the Nets to end in agony so much went wrong for Brooklyn to lose what if Kyrie and Harden never got hurt what if Joe Harris shot better than 34 from the field and 32 percent from three against Milwaukee what if Katie's foot was behind the line the worst part is that we'll never have closure because this was the last playoff series the Nets Big 3 ever played together Brooklyn would be back shouted the world it was a fair thing to say at the time boring injury there was no reason why the Nets wouldn't be right back as a top team in the league KD confirmed this by signing a four-year Max extension in August of 2021. the Superstar was all in and trusted Kyrie and Hardin would soon sign contracts to remain as well but this is where the story starts to shift the Nets went from being poisoned by injuries to being poisoned by decisions it's a choice that very well may have cost the Nets a championship a choice to not get a shot before the 2021-22 season kicked off New York created a mandate that wouldn't allow unvaccinated athletes to play games of course the Brooklyn Nets were affected by this meaning that an unvaccinated Nets player would not be allowed to play any home games for their team on October 14 2021 Kyrie Irving confirmed that he was unvaccinated and boldly he claimed that he would not be receiving the shot immediately Brooklyn banned Kyrie from Team activities until he was eligible to be a full participant remember Kyrie wasn't allowed to play in home games but he was allowed to play Road games the Nets could have let him play for them on the road but took a Firm Stance against this how did Irving's two All-Star teammates feel about this their answer is varied Kevin Durant said he wasn't going to force Kyrie to get the vaccine he was indifferent to the situation and was nonchalant with whichever decision Irving made on the other hand James Harden saw all this unfold and felt infuriated she wanted Kyrie to get vaccinated even joking that he was going to give him the shot reminder KD and Kyrie already had the respective championship rings James Harden had none and joined the Nets to win one seeing one of his teammates outright throw away the season for a shot and seen the other one okay with it made Harden and rage he was getting older and needed to compete he didn't have time for these Antics Kyrie wasn't going to change his mind though and ended up missing 65 of the season because he wasn't allowed to play in other news Kevin Durant wasn't too happy with the beard when training camp came around James Harden arrived out of shape hardin's lack of conditioning reportedly astonished Durant and KD confronted him about this but why was Hardin out of shape to begin the season the easy answer to this would be to call him lazy but in reality the reasoning for Hardin being out of shape goes all the way back to the 2021 playoffs Hardin returned in 10 days from an injury that takes four to eight weeks to heal Harden playing 45 40 and 53 minutes in three straight games on a grade 2 hamstring strain ruined his athleticism and didn't allow for a proper recovery from his initial grade 2 hamstring injury Hardin couldn't do cardio during the off-season because his hamstring wasn't fully healed as a result he gained weight and showed up to training camp out of shape Brooklyn's management and doctors were at fault for this but Hardin took all of the blame from the NBA media either way the 2021-22 season was already disaster from the Nets one star was Kevin Durant the other star was out of shape and the third star wasn't playing games even Joe Harris had his season ended just 14 games in because of an injured left ankle despite all of this though by New Year's of 2022 the net still held the number one seed in the East James Harden and Kevin Durant had steered the ship well without Kyrie even better news came in mid-December of 2021. the Nets had given in they were allowing Kyrie to play Road games at long last everything was finally coming together for Brooklyn they had the best record in the East Kevin Durant was still a superstar James Harden was getting back into All-Star shape and Kyrie was making his return sure it wasn't a perfect story but the net still had as good of a chance as any team in the league to win a ring this hype was Amplified on January 12 2022 against the Chicago Bulls the second seeded Nets with a fully healthy Trio played the first seeded Bulls on national television and absolutely crushed them it was a stark reminder of how incredible this big three could be when on the floor together but this would be the last game Kyrie KD and Harden whatever play together just three days later at a home game against the Pelicans Durant sprained his MCL in a freak injury this was the final nail in the coffin the floodgates were now opened from this point on it was the Kyrie and Harden show and it was a disaster the Nets started dropping games ultimately racking up 11 straight losses Kyrie continued missing time due to the Mandate and Horton's play declined as you can imagine the beard was quite unhappy at what had occurred during his Net's tenure thus far she came here to hoop with Kyrie and KD and he had barely gotten that experience on top of this hardin's left hamstring was giving him issues his right hamstring that had been injured back in the 2021 playoffs was healed but now his left Tammy was bothering him he was forced to be the number one option on Brooklyn with Kyrie missing home games putting even more wear and tear on his legs soon enough he was Fed Up and began giving simply less effort on the court murmurs about the beard wanting to go to Philadelphia began Rising the Nets denied it at first but eventually the truth revealed itself James Harden wanted to be a sixer he wanted to be reunited with his former Houston Rockets executive and Daryl Mori James Harden's last game with the Nets was a four-point performance on two of 11 shooting with no defense he just gave up on the court the Nets had two options they could either keep James and risk losing him in free agency for nothing or they could trade him to Philly and receive some assets back they chose the latter on February 10 2022 the first member of the netspig 3 was traded James Harden was sent to Philly remember Brooklyn gave up a hall of first round picks and key players for the beard in 2021 so what was their return here Ben Simmons Seth Curry Andre Drummond and two first-round picks two role players and a theoretical star player who hadn't played the entire season in Ben Simmons The Big Three had officially been split up only 13 months after formation they played Just 16 games together going 13-3 Hardin leaving in the fashion he did surprise people and left most Nets fans loading him the 2022 All-Star draft that took place on the day this trade went down revealed KD's true emotions he commented on the trade claiming both teams got what they wanted he then refused to pick Hardin for his All-Star team the focus quickly shifted from Kyrie KD and Harden to Kyrie KD and Ben Simmons [Music] Simmons was the new kid on the Block just eight months prior Ben had one of the worst performing playoff series by any All-Star in NBA history his free throw percentage was ridiculously bad and his confidence seemed crushed on top of this he demanded to trade from Philly and refused to play any games for the Sixers until he was shipped out the Nets were willing to take on this risk though before that series Simmons was a multiple-time All-Star and a defensive player of the year candidate sure he had his shooting woes but the Nets felt that this weakness would be hidden with Kyrie and KD along his side only one problem Simmons was diagnosed with a herniated disc just one month after being traded to the team it was a season-ending back injury the number one player in the hardened trade package wouldn't even be suiting up for the team in the 2021-22 season shortly after this deal NYC removed their vaccine mandate allowing Kyrie to play all the games he wanted to with both healthy and on the floor the 7-Eleven Duo had their fun moments they crushed the James harden-led Sixers and destroyed the number one seed in Miami Heat in the regular season in the plan they beat the young and upcoming Cavs to snatch the seven seed however disappointment soon followed this excitement a common theme throughout the 7-Eleven era the Nets got swept by the Boston Celtics in round one of the 2022 playoffs Kevin Durant struggled mightily in this series shooting just 38 percent from the field Ben Simmons never even touched the floor despite there being multiple rumors and reports claiming that he was planning on returning against Boston he ended up needing back surgery after the season concluded just 10 months prior the Nets had crushed the Celtics in humiliating fashion with their Mighty big three now they were the ones being embarrassed ending their season in sweeping Fashion on their home floor with an L in game four the Kyrie KD era didn't officially end here but it was clear that the two stars wanted out the Nets refused to give Kyrie Irving a Max contract extension which made him heavily consider a sign and trade she ended up giving in and opting into his player option committing to the nets for at least one more season Kevin Durant on the other hand wasn't so thrilled damn he requested a trade just two days after Irving opted in Durant wanted both the Nets coach and Steve Nash and the executive in Sean marks to be fired he told Nets owner Josiah that it was either me or them the net stood their ground though and refused to trade him they had just given Durant an extension One Summer ago they weren't gonna let him go so soon Brooklyn didn't oblige to any of KD's demands electing to keep Nation marks Durant's reluctantly understood and rescinded this trade request marking for a rare occasion where a star who requested a trade changed from mind the Nets made some intriguing trades acquiring Royce O'Neill TJ Warren and Yuta Watanabe which strengthened their depth some fans believe that these moves along with the addition of a healthy Ben Simmons would Ascend the Nets into a championship Contender others thought Kyrie and KD were ticking Time Bomb they had both essentially requested a trade only to change their minds later it wouldn't be easy to just sweep that all under the rug and move on like it was nothing once the 2022-23 season tipped off and the Nets opened up one in five fans called for Steve Nash's head they got their wish Nash was canned on November 1st Brooklyn fiery Nash this early into the season begs the question why didn't they just get rid of him when Katie asked them to that can be chalked up as another questionable move by the Nets management Brooklyn thought about replacing Nash with suspended Celtics coach IMEI udoka but decided against him promoting assistant coach Jacques Vaughn instead while all this was going on Kyrie Irving had created quite the social media controversy on October 27 2022 he tweeted a link to a film on Amazon that featured a boatload of hateful anti-semitic field content when asked if he had any anti-semitic beliefs Irving refused to give a yes or no answer yes or no on that question yes or no I cannot be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from she ended up being suspended by the nets for what amounted to eight games the Nets gave Irving a list of requirements he needed to complete before returning Irving ended up doing what was asked of him and was clear to return to the team after 16 days Irving apologized twice for this incident once when he returned to the team on November 20th and the other on an Instagram post on November 4th interestingly enough Irving deleted this post a few months later and you can make of that what you will for most Nets fans this was the final straw with Kyrie his wildly inconsistent Behavior no longer excused his great play on the court and it had become a detriment to the team's success but surprisingly enough in the midst of this turmoil the Nets went on a 12-game winning streak from December 7th to January 2nd unfortunately this fun came to an end when Kevin Durant suffered yet another unlucky MCL injury in January 8th game against the Miami Heat for the second straight year an untimely Kevin Durant knee injury had taken all the Net's momentum and crushed it Kyrie and Ben Simmons couldn't keep the team afloat and the Nets started dropping games quickly speaking of Simmons his game had taken a complete nosedive upon arriving in Brooklyn he had deteriorated from a star in Philly to an invisible role player in Brooklyn his confidence was destroyed it's almost as if he was afraid to shoot the ball when near the basket Simmons was the main piece in the infamous Sixers James Harden trade and he was a complete failure while Hardin was playing well in Philly Simmons was getting booed by Nets fans on February 3rd 2023 while the net stood at the fourth seed in the East it was made public that Kyrie Irving had shockingly requested a trade Brooklyn didn't want to give him a Max contract so Irving wanted out it had become quite clear that the relationship between Irving and the Nets management had become too big of a riff to fix Kyrie got his wish two days later being shipped to the Dallas Mavericks for some role players and a first-round pick Kevin Durant saw this occur and realized that he too had had enough quietly requesting a trade to the Suns a few days later the Nets with a heavy heart granted him his wish setting him to Phoenix for a heap of picks and young players in just a few days the 7-Eleven Duo had unraveled the nets for as toxic as they were still held the fourth spot in the East and were the second seed before KD got hurt the two stars request in trades as abruptly as they did left Nets fans with a bad taste in their mouth why not play the season out and see what happens but in reality this was a more than fitting end to the Kyrie KD era it's yet another what if to add the overflowing collection this team was embodied by what-ifs for the better part of three years it's easy to sit there and pin all the failures of this team on one person in reality though Brooklyn's downfall was a combination of many factors had Kyrie or Harden not gotten injured in the 2021 playoffs it was likely that the Nets would have won the championship had Kyrie gotten the shot it's possible that James Harden wouldn't have grown frustrated with the team and won it out what if the Nets organization allowed Kyrie to play Road games from The Season's beginning would that have changed anything had Spencer dinwiddy not gotten hurt back in December of 2020 the James Harden trade may have never happened to begin with maybe if Brooklyn put their foot down when Kyrie and KD wanted Kenny Atkinson fired it would have shown the two stars that the Nets weren't going to allow themselves to be pushed around was there a severe lack of leadership and accountability in the locker room these are all questions that will be analyzed over and over again for years to come or maybe that's all wrong and the Net's failure can actually be blamed on Kyrie's stepping unlucky the leprechaun what needs to be recognized is that in the NBA winning a championship takes a bit of luck on top of everything else and at the end of the day the Nets were just plain old unlucky we just didn't get on the court enough I think when you've seen James Kyrie and myself it was it was amazing basketball for 17 games though now fast forward to date I don't like the crazy one I just know I want to be places where I'm celebrated and not just tolerate or you know kind of dealt with in a way that doesn't make me feel respected hello [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: dylandoesbasketball

Views: 1,068,863

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Id: 0Be9aGssij8

Length: 46min 28sec (2788 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 15 2023