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By William Britt

Nets logo. Image credit: Rob Masefield via Flickr.

It was January 2021, and the Brooklyn Nets had just acquired All-Star guard James Harden from the Houston Rockets. Harden joined former All-Star teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, completing one of the most offensively talented superstar trios in NBA history. What could possibly go wrong?

Harden and Durant had played together previously on the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2009-2012. It was a successful tenure for the Thunder and Harden, who reached the NBA finals in 2012, but ultimately falling to the Miami Heat. Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets that offseason, after he and the Thunder were unable to reach an agreement on a long-term contract.

Irving has become a superstar in the league over the past half decade, with his dazzling dribbling and shot-making abilities, but his off-the-court struggles and controversies overshadow his talent. Irving was drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011, but it wasn’t until 2015, when LeBron James returned to Cleveland, that Irving was given the spotlight he deserved. Together, they won a championship in 2016, and two years later Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics. 

Durant was drafted in 2007 by the Seattle Supersonics, which become the Oklahoma City Thunder. Listed as 6’11″, Durant has the ball handling and shooting ability of a guard. Durant found success in Oklahoma but ultimately decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors in 2017, where he won two championships.

The Nets organization and fans’ expectations peaked when the two superstar scorers came to Brooklyn in the summer of 2019.

Kevin Durant on the Golden State Warriors. Photo credit: All-Pro Reels via Wikimedia Commons.

While Durant was expected to miss the entire 2019 season, and fans would have to wait to see the true potential of their Nets team, in the meantime they could watch the dazzling Irving. The Nets finished 7th in the Eastern Conference during their 2019-20 season and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The pandemic had proved a challenge to the NBA, but they were able to conclude the 2019-20 season in a “bubble” in Orlando, Florida. As the Nets and the rest of the NBA geared up for the COVID-19-influenced 2020-21 season, the Nets appeared to have everything they needed. Durant was back and ready to dominate again, Irving had shown that he was still in his prime, and only one thing was missing from this team: Irving’s COVID-19 vaccine. 

Irving has been famously ridiculed for some outrageous comments in the past, like when he claimed the earth was flat. He has also been scrutinized for promoting a book that was anti-Semetic. So it was not surprising when Irving refused to get vaccinated. Irving not being vaccinated violated New York’s COVID-19 vaccination rules, and Irving was prohibited from playing in home games. The Nets then decided they didn’t want the part-time Irving, so they didn’t let him play in road games or even practice with the team. This lasted until mid-December 2020, when Irving was able to rejoin the team for away games and practices. Irving didn’t play in a home game that season until the end of March 2021. 

In the middle of the season, the Nets made a significant move and acquired Harden from the Houston Rockets. The Nets now had three of the league’s top scorers in the league and no doubt one of the greatest collections of talent in league history. 

Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets. Photo credit: Erik Drost via Wikimedia Commons.

The Nets proved to be a force in the Eastern Conference for the remainder of that season, finishing second in the conference with a record of 48-24. The Nets made quick work of the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics, winning the first round playoff series 4-1 and moving on to face the three-seed Milwaukee Bucks Unfortunately for the Nets, injuries riddled this second round series against the Bucks. This series saw both Irving and Harden go down and ended with an overtime loss in game 7 to the Bucks, ending the Nets’ season.

The Nets’ 2021-22 season found their three stars struggling to stay on the court together with injuries. This left the Nets’ fan base and front office increasingly inpatient with the inconsistent availability of their big stars. In total, the trio only played in 16 total games together in a little over a year, going 13-3 in these games. 

Harden was the first to leave; he never officially requested a trade but was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in early February 2022. Almost as quickly as the Big Three in Brooklyn was created, it was destroyed. The regular season ended, and the Nets found themselves without Harden and playing in the play-in tournament. They advanced, but then they found themselves outmatched against the Celtics in their first round series, who swept them.

An offseason came and went that saw few changes made to the roster, as the Nets were still carrying Durant’s and Irving’s enormous contracts, along with Ben Simmons, acquired in the Harden trade, who they hoped could provide defense. He turned out to be completely useless and a complete disappointment. The first half of the 2022-23 saw the Nets make a positive turn around, and they found themselves 10 games over .500 midway through the season. But as often happens with Irving, when a good thing gets going, he leaves. Irving was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks on February 6, three days before the NBA trade deadline. Three days later, Durant was dealt to the Phoenix Suns, two hours before the deadline. 

It was fun while it lasted.

Championships can’t be bought in the NBA; they have to be built. Irving and Harden have always been very inward thinking players who have rarely been associated with postseason success, the exception being when Irving was with the Cavaliers. Durant is not a leader, he is not an alpha, and he isn’t the player to rally others behind him and say follow me. They do call him the silent assassin. Could this Nets team have ever really worked out? Given the history of these three players, a championship was wishful thinking.

NBA fan Hudson Pace (‘23) said, “There’s the Bay of Pigs invasion… the housing market crisis of 2008, and Hangover 3. None of them compare to the failure of the Nets.” Sure, it would have been nice to see Durant win a ring on a non-Warriors team, and for Irving to win one without LeBron, and for Harden to get his first, but the NBA has moved on from an organization being able to acquire a few stars in hopes of a quick makeover. Teams like the Celtics, Grizzlies and Nuggets are examples of the new brand of basketball in the NBA, where they have drafted and signed pieces and built rosters to withstand a season and compete for a championship.

The Nets front office is considered middle of the pack, but no blame can be placed upon them because they acquired three super talents. No man in their right mind would refuse the opportunity to acquire these players. The Nets GM Sean Marks has always been well-regarded, and he gave the fans some fireworks to watch for a year. Unfortunately, he and the organization also added yet another stain to the plethora of stains on these three players’ careers. Now Durant is with yet another loaded team in Phoenix that is expected to compete for a championship, Irving is paired with superstar Luka Doncic in Dallas with high expectations, and Harden is in Philadelphia with MVP candidate center Joel Embiid, currently 3rd in the Eastern Conference. No matter where these super talents are, they carry expectations of victory. But until they get over the hump and contribute to success and a late push into the postseason without distractions and dysfunction, they will remain just super talents.