It’s very much in the rearview mirror now, but there’s no doubt the Nets are still licking wounds after their failed superstar experiment.
They lured Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to sign with them in the same summer. That was followed by trading for James Harden not long after. Brooklyn’s Big Three was nothing short of a failed disaster. But could it be considered a failure if they barely even played together? Irving, Durant, and Harden only played together for 16 games before Harden requested a trade just one year after arriving in Brooklyn.
What are The Beard’s thoughts on what just transpired with the Nets at the NBA trade deadline, along with his time there? Here’s what he shared with ESPN’s Nick Friedell:
Harden, while discussing his tenure with KD/Kyrie:
"Frustrating. It's a lot of what ifs, I think when you play less than 20 games together. So it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully everybody's in a good place now and we can move on."
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) February 12, 2023
Harden: "I don't look like the crazy one. I don’t look like the guy or the quitter or whatever the media want to call me. I knew what was going on and I just decided to…hey, I'm not built for this. I don't want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun"
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) February 12, 2023
Harden also told Brian Lewis of the New York Post that he specifically wanted to play for the Nets because he’d get to share the floor with Irving and Durant. But it didn’t take him long to see the writing on the wall for an experiment that was always doomed to fail. So, he looked out for himself before getting stuck there any longer than he needed to be.
These were some pretty pointed comments. It certainly sounds like he’s thought about this situation a lot and was waiting for the right moment to get it off his chest. Especially once Kyrie took a shot at him via the media last month.
Are the Nets better off now than they were a couple of weeks ago? The answer to that question probably depends a little bit on who you ask. Sure, their true league superstars are playing for other teams now. But, at least the guys currently on the roster actually want to be in Brooklyn.
That’s what Ben Simmons thinks:
Ben Simmons on the new-look #Nets: “We’ve got a lot of guys that are happy to be here and just want to play and win. So they compete. So it's good; it's good energy here.”
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) February 13, 2023
Brooklyn’s roster seems ideal for a head coach like Jacque Vaughn, so we’ll see what he can do with them. Either way, this was a chapter in franchise history many were eager to close. As for James Harden, he feels a little vindication as the page was getting turned.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
