Kevin Durant and Steve Nash likely have their opinions on what went wrong in Brooklyn.
The pair actually discussed just that Tuesday on a podcast, with the former breaking down why the Nets’ Big Three broke up.
Nets general manager Sean Marks built a superteam with Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden that lost in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semis when Durant’s toe was on the line for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, and the latter two were hurt.
Nash was famously dumped by the Nets in November 2022 after Durant had demanded his firing.
Then, Durant requested a trade the following February.
Now, Nash — who co-hosts the “Mind The Game” podcast with LeBron James — asked his former star what he recalled about that time.
“We had this conversation in Portland I think right before a game, and I’m like, ‘Who am I spending my next five years with?’” said Durant. “I had just signed that deal, you had just signed a deal. It felt like we were secure, but everything else around us was going to s–t.
“Not in a bad way, we’ve got GMs going to other teams, we’ve got coaches going to other teams, we’ve got players forcing trades, we’ve got bringing Ben Simmons, he’s back (Durant pointed to his back while saying this line). There was so much bulls–t around us. I felt like we were locked in on the same page and understanding we were trying to do something special here, but … and I feel like your hands were tied a lot because as a coach you had to deal with so much.”
Nash dealt with Irving’s refusal to adhere to New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which made him ineligible for home games in 2021-22.
And then Harden passive-aggressively forcing his way out that February, not telling the Nets he wanted a deal until two days before the Trade Deadline, leaving them to swap him for the chronically-injured Simmons.
And, of course, Nets fans are as familiar with “Ben Simmons is back” as Durant is, with the point guard’s start-stop recovery from back woes a constant issue.
It was noteworthy that Nash interrupted Durant, interjecting “I didn’t get to coach as much as I wanted to.”
That could be a double entendre. Did Nash mean the fact the Big Three only logged 16 games together? Or that his tenure was abruptly cut short by Durant requesting his ouster? Or that he spent more time putting out fires than coaching?
“That’s what it was: I didn’t feel like we got the full Steve Nash like I wanted, like you probably wanted. I feel like it was just too many distractions in a way, and you know you can’t win that way,” Durant replied. “But I felt like we had great intentions though. I feel like we cared enough. I feel like every day we were trying to push toward winning a championship. It was a great vibe in there.
“It’s some of the best times I’ve had. That first year, that’s why I signed that deal. That first year, man, most fun ball I had. Some of the most fun ball I had playing in my life. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed playing in Brooklyn a lot. I loved playing for Brooklyn. But it’s just so much around the guys who were committed to the situation. I felt like we were committed, but everybody else wasn’t. It just was weird.”
Durant did not mention Irving’s absences or Harden by name, but he alluded to the latter demanding a trade (Irving did so the following season, finally forcing Durant to be the last star out the door).
For his part, Nash — who hasn’t coached since — said he struggles with how to view his Nets tenure, and admits he feels like he failed Brooklyn.
But he also acknowledges that there were many things out of his hands.
However, Durant — who recently told the crowd at Fanatics Fest that he was a “Net for life” — freed Nash of any blame.
“Hell, no. Come on man,” said Durant. “I just think your hands were tied too many times. You had to be a super, a principal more so than anything, you know what I’m saying? You just couldn’t like inject your basketball, you know what I’m saying? Just everything that you have basketball, I didn’t feel like you could inject that into everybody in the way that we all envisioned just because of the distractions.”