James Harden once said that it would be "scary hours" with the force he, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would collectively contribute to the Brooklyn Nets.
The reality of scary hours
The reality of scary hours is that this trio created mass chaos from the start, and as a result, they only played 16 games together. Harden requested a trade last season after Irving refused to be vaccinated. He did not want to waste his time playing with a guy who only wanted to be a part-time player in Irving, so he was sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons.
Irving decided to bail on Durant over the weekend by requesting a trade after failing to come to a consensus on an extension. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the point guard was upset that the Nets' offer extension came with stipulations. The Nets should have anticipated a rejection from Irving, and they likely did. The stipulations almost certainly gave off the impression the Nets were not interested in bringing him back, and Irving took the cue and ran.
The Nets acquiesced to Irving’s wishes by trading him and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in exchange for Dorian-Finney Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected 2029 first-round draft pick and second-round picks in 2029. The Nets should have some value in this trade with the receival of productive players in return for Irving, unlike last year's trade deal that landed them Simmon, who has been both useless and injury-prone, in exchange for Harden.
The band broke up
The band of Harden, Irving, and Durant broke up before it even got its debut. They never could find a melody. This officially ends the failed Nets super-team era. It was forgettable indeed with only one playoff series win to show for it and a lot of nonsense that came with it.
Irving has created problems for the organization since the beginning, including his antisemitic behavior that led to Nike pulling his sponsorship. He behaved as well as he could after his apology, but it wasn’t enough for the Nets' owner Joe Tsai to give him a contract extension that would make him happy, and that’s why the Nets point guard orchestrated his departure.
As for Durant, shame on him for leaving Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to play with Irving. Yes, he wanted to be the guy on his own team after riding Curry’s coattails to two championships, but he also needed to be accompanied by a star. He thought Irving could be that guy. There was no question that both of them contacted each other about playing together for this marriage to happen. Durant was clearly desperate to play with another star, so he settled for Irving.
When the two were healthy, they complemented each other well, but they were both injury-prone, and that’s why this experiment was always going to be risky. Maybe if Durant does not get the MCL injury, Irving does not act out and somehow manage to play through his frustration with the Nets. We will never know.
Still, Durant should have known better than to rely on Irving.
Who knows how long until Durant orchestrates his own departure?
It doesn’t matter whether Durant is here or not. The bottom line is the Nets' super team flamed out. There’s nothing he can do about it. This is on him for failing to make all of this work. He wanted Harden and Irving, and he couldn’t get those two to coexist.
The current state of the Nets
The Nets and Durant get what they deserve here. They banked their championship hopes around Irving despite his mercurial personality, and they got burned. They should have known this was coming. They didn’t care, though. They thought they could manage him and get by.
The Nets signed Irving as part of a pair arrangement with Durant. They were well aware of the baggage that came with him, but they also knew they had to sign him to acquire what they really wanted in Durant.
After Irving missed 135 games, refused the COVID-19 vaccine, promoted antisemitism, accelerated Harden’s departure and made a trade demand that resulted in one playoff series win, the super team was a total flop. Irving’s nonsense wasn’t worth the headache anymore, and the Nets likely realized they needed to go separate ways when they couldn't defeat the Boston Celtics.
The Nets could have easily just rode it out with Irving for the final three months, but he became too much of a problem. It was just something with Irving. He was never going to be happy. He was always going to do something controversial. That’s just how he is wired. If he couldn’t be happy playing with LeBron James, there was no way he was going to be happy playing with Durant.
This super team will be laughed at forever. This could be considered the worst experiment in basketball history with all the pomp and circumstance that came with it. This team now sits atop the worst team money can buy, and joins the ‘92 Mets as the worst teams to ever play in New York.
There was no great ending to all this. It was predictably going to end badly. It's a theme that seems to follow Irving. Harden’s departure was the start of everything, and now Irving’s departure turned the Nets into a dumpster fire.
This failed super team is just another piece of lore in the Nets’ star-crossed history.
You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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