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Kevin Durant’s time with the Brooklyn Nets may not have delivered a championship, but he’s not here for the slander. In Part 2 of his conversation with LeBron James and Steve Nash on Mind the Game, Durant reflected on the rollercoaster tenure and explained why the outside world has it all wrong, per AwfulAnnouncing.
Many label the Nets’ superteam era as a failure. Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden only played 16 games together. The team won just one playoff series during his near four-year stint. But for Durant, the criticism misses the full picture.
“I feel like we were secure,” he told Nash. “But everything else around us was going to s—. GMs going to other teams. Coaches gone. Players asking out. Ben Simmons shows up and his back’s hurt. So much bulls— around us.”
Nash nodded as Durant added, “Your hands were tied a lot… we didn’t get the full Steve Nash like I wanted, or like you probably wanted. Too many distractions, and you can’t win that way.”
More than wins and losses
Durant didn’t duck the reality that the team fell short of expectations. But he emphasized that winning isn’t the only thing that matters, especially to people who truly understand basketball.
“The dialogue around the league, the discourse, they don’t truly appreciate the journey,” he said. “Even the ones that don’t work out. There’s beauty in that.”
Durant pointed to other teams, like the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, that didn’t win titles but still offered something meaningful. He believes Brooklyn was the same. While fans and analysts focus on the lack of rings, he remembers the good moments and growth that came from the experience.
“I look at the season like that a lot,” he said. “Of course we want to win and go to the chip. But it’s little small moments I can appreciate, even when it doesn’t end in winning.”
Kevin Durant acknowledged that younger players like Cam Thomas, Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton likely learned a lot from the highs and lows of that run. And while outsiders may only see failure, he walks away with pride.
