There’s a famous meme from the TV show Community that shows Donald Glover returning to an apartment with pizza in hand, and everything is on fire. That’s the equivalent of Kevin Durant walking into the Brooklyn Nets facilities these days. After an offseason Kevin Durant trade request, followed by the star rescinding his demand after assurances from owner Joe Tsai, Durant likely came into the season with high hopes that he, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, and head coach Steve Nash could come together and have a positive 2022-23 NBA season.
That just hasn’t been the case. In fact, the 2022-23 Nets season has been one of the worst, weirdest, wildest, and most dramatic seasons in recent NBA memory, and we’re only eight games in!
The Nets are 2-6 through eight games. Nash is no longer the coach, the team has hired disgraced Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka, Ben Simmons is playing horribly, and Kyrie Irving is now suspended for five games for promoting (and not apologizing for) an antisemitic documentary.
In short, the Brooklyn Nets are a sinking ship, and another Kevin Durant trade request needs to come from the superstar ASAP.
Why a Kevin Durant trade needs to happen for the Nets superstar
After the Kevin Durant trade request this offseason, it was easy to argue that the 12-time All-Star was acting soft. Sure, the Kyrie Irving vaccine situation last year was frustrating, but that was over. The James Harden trade stunk, too. But now Ben Simmons is back and playing. And Steve Nash might not seem like the greatest NBA coach yet, but he was an excellent player and, above all else, a seemingly good guy.
With all that in place, Durant should just suck it up and try to make it work on the Nets, right?
That was the thought from a good deal of Nets fans and media after Durant’s ill-fated trade request this offseason. However, while he couldn’t have known the exact details of the extent of the drama, maybe Durant did have an idea as to how this season would play out.
One of Durant’s biggest complaints was that he wanted Nash and general manager Sean Marks fired. The star no longer believed the Nets’ basketball brain trust could build the right team around him.
While Marks is still there, Nash is now gone. That’s likely a good thing in Durant’s mind. However, Ime Udoka is now in his place. Sure, Udoka is a great coach who was with the Nets before moving to the Celtics. However, he was just suspended a little over a month ago for having an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate.
It’s not a good look for the Nets to hire him so quickly after his scandal, and whether he succeeds or fails, the move will always paint the Nets — and Durant by extension — in a sleazy light.
The other Nets issues that Kevin Durant may have seen coming this offseason are more immediate.
Ben Simmons is bad at basketball. Whatever swagger or confidence allowed Simmons to become a three-time All-Star despite limited offensive skills is now gone. In its place is a shell of a player who is terrified to have the ball in his hands because it may mean he has to shoot.
Through eight games, Simmons is averaging 6.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 6.5 rebounds per game. He is contributing, but his fear of shooting is making the Nets play 5-on-4 on offense, and that’s just not sustainable, even with Durant and Irving. The big Aussie is washed as an NBA player. It seems like Durant may have known this several months ago.
Finally, that brings us to Kyrie Irving. The seven-time All-Star is having an excellent season on the court thus far and, along with Durant, is the only reason the Nets even have two wins on the year. Irving is averaging 26.9 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game this season.
As good as he’s been on the court, though, Irving has been 10-times the distraction off it.
The latest Kyrie Irving fiasco is him promoting an antisemitic film on social media and refusing to apologize for it. He’s also hitting all the classic Irving tropes of giving long-winded rambling answers, refusing to answer questions directly, and playing the victim card during the whole saga.
Durant didn’t know that this would be exactly what happened, but he has to know this would happen. From flat earth theories to burning sage to ruining Boston to going AWOL for a birthday party to his vaccine issues, it’s always something with Irving. Maybe Durant didn’t have an antisemitic movie on his bingo card, but the Nets star knew something was coming.
So, there it is. The Kevin Durant trade request this offseason made us all scoff at the star. Now, we not only owe Durant an apology, but we all also need to tell him the same thing. You need to get out of Brooklyn now! That’s why Durant must resubmit his trade request to Nets ASAP amid the Irving, Simmons, Nash, and Udoka debacles.
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