Kevin Durant\u2019s first answer sounded less like a roster evaluation than a defense of the failed Brooklyn Nets experiment.<\/p>\n
Asked by Boardroom to name the best team<\/a> he played for \u201con paper,\u201d Durant chose the 2020-21 Nets, citing Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap and Patty Mills.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had the names on that team,\u201d Durant said.<\/p>\n Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets react on the bench during the first quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center on Monday, January 30, 2023. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n Names were precisely what Brooklyn had.<\/p>\n Durant\u2019s argument counts career accomplishments without considering when they were earned. The Nets did not acquire the All-NBA versions of Griffin, Aldridge or Millsap. They acquired recognizable veterans after their best basketball was behind them.<\/p>\n The roster\u2019s real case rested on Durant, Irving and Harden. That trio was devastating when available, but it played only 16 regular-season games together and never advanced beyond the second round.<\/p>\n Golden State\u2019s case requires no creative accounting.<\/p>\n The Warriors won a championship and 73 games before Durant arrived. They went 67-15 and won the title in his first season, then reached three consecutive Finals and won two championships with Durant earning both Finals MVP awards.<\/p>\n Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry, left, and Kevin Durant look on from the bench as the Warriors play the Dallas Mavericks during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, in Dallas. The Mavericks won 112-109. AP<\/p>\n If \u201con paper\u201d means judging the players who actually shared the court\u2014not adding every accolade they earned across their lifetimes\u2014the Warriors were clearly superior.<\/p>\n So why did Durant reach for Brooklyn first?<\/p>\n Is it because the Nets were his project? Durant and Irving chose Brooklyn together<\/a>, then helped bring in Harden. That roster reflected Durant\u2019s vision of a championship contender. <\/p>\n