When Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both made the decision to join the Brooklyn Nets during the 2019 free agency, with them, they brought championship expectations to New York. After hiring Steve Nash as their head coach, and subsequently trading for a third star, James Harden, these expectations only grew stronger. However, the experiment failed tremendously, with all three stars now no longer on the team, and reflecting back upon Durant’s tenure as a Net, NBA writer Mark Medina believes that the 35-year-old should have been ‘cognizant of what he signed up for’.

The failed experiment of the Nets’ big three

When looking back at the NBA’s 2019 free agency, it featured perhaps one of the most star-studded line-ups ever with the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell, DeMarcus Cousins and Klay Thompson all exploring the market for their next big contracts. Two stars in particular, though, were plotting to play with each other on the same team before free-agency even begun.

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, long-time friends, decided to team up and go to New York. While the New York Knicks had the cap space to bring them to the Big Apple, owner James Dolan was not prepared to offer Durant the max deal, and as such missed out on the chance to sign either star. To make matters worse, they ended up signing with the team just cross the bridge, the Brooklyn Nets, and the moves instantly made them championship contenders.

Durant made his debut for the Nets in December the following year, after missing the entire 2019-20 season recovering from the ruptured Achilles tendon he had sustained in the 2019 NBA Finals when a member of the Golden State Warriors, and many things had already changed since his arrival there. The pair were now working under new head coach, Steve Nash, despite having zero experience as a head-coach, and in an attempt to make them serious title challengers, the Nets organization gambled away their future and traded for James Harden, giving up Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Taurean Prince and Rodions Kurucs, as well as three first-round draft picks and four pick-swaps. Despite giving up a plethora of roster depth, they were still viewed as one of the favorites, and the 'big three' era was now in swing.

In their first season together, the trio would play only 14 games including the playoffs as a result of a recurring shoulder injury to Irving and a hamstring problem for Harden. Nevertheless, they showed a small glimpse of their frightening potential, posting an 11-3 record. However, the following season there was trouble in paradise, and following a string of incidents including Irving refusing to play as a result of the New York City Covid-19 vaccine mandate, reportedly giving up a four-year, $100-plus extension in the process, and reports that Harden was unhappy, the Nets traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, ending their first attempt at having a big three era. They played in only two games together that season, for a total of 16 games.

Harden’s departure, though, brought in All-Star Ben Simmons, who had sat out the entire year for the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming the most fined player in NBA history. After sitting out the remainder of the season with a back injury, they had to wait until the beginning of the 2022-23 season to feature on the court together. A 2-6 losing start to the 2022-23 season prompted the Nets to part ways with Steve Nash, and after only three months since Simmons marked his return to an NBA court, both Irving and Durant requested trades, being shipped off to the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, respectively, and the failed experiment in Brooklyn was finally over.

Medina – Nets reacted to KD’s arrival to put them in ‘win-now mode'

Medina believes that Durant’s arrival, along with Kyrie Irving’s, forced the Nets into making changes that benefited them in the short-term. As a result of this, they had to give up a lot of depth when trading for Harden, until he was swapped with Ben Simmons in a blockbuster trade the following year. He goes on to state that had Simmons stayed healthy, then as a duo, he and KD may have kept the Nets in the mix for playoff success, but his health was never guaranteed.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said…

“I think, as much as Kevin Durant's an ultimate pro, an ultimate hooper, and he's just been remarkably efficient, and still one of the best players in the NBA, I think that he should be cognizant of what he signed up for. The reality is with him and Kyrie Irving going to the Brooklyn Nets, they acquiesce to all these things as far as their long term priorities, because they knew that they had to make short term moves with getting Steve Nash, giving up some of their depth, they traded for James Harden to give up some of their depth. They then flipped James Harden to get Ben Simmons to acquiesce to some of the chemistry concerns and Harden’s frustration. So as much as I do understand Kevin Durant's frustrations, part of it was them reacting to his arrival there to put themselves in a win now mode. So yeah, if Ben Simmons was healthy, they still would have been in the mix, but I think that is obviously a huge qualifier and a huge if, because Ben Simmons hasn't showed that he can stay healthy consistently.”

Tenure in Brooklyn

In total, Kevin Durant spent three and a half seasons in the state of New York and his tenure there is probably one in which he wishes he could forget.

In his time with Brooklyn, the 13-time All-Star played in only 129 games, averaging 29.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He also shot 53.5 percent from the field, while connecting on 40.0 percent of his shots from the outside. Perhaps his most memorable moment in the black and white uniform was his game-seven performance against the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 Eastern Conference semi-finals, where he came ever so close to sending the Nets into the next round. However, KD's size 18 feet came into play in a bizarre turn of events.

Read more: The decade's biggest NBA trades that haven't delivered a championship

In a potential game winning shot, Durant seemingly drained a three-pointer with one second remaining in the fourth quarter, which would have effectively ended the Bucks’ title hopes that season. However, his big toe was deemed to be on the line, meaning the shot only counted for two points, sending the game into overtime instead of ending the series. There, the Nets would narrowly lose despite the former MVP putting up a game-high 48 points. Since then, the Nets have failed to progress past the first-round of the NBA playoffs.

Reflecting back on his tenure in Brooklyn, while he had some notable individual moments, the health and status of his All-Star teammates meant he would never experience the same level of success that he had when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors. The front-office’s decision to effectively empty out the roster in favor of having a big three was arguably a miscalculated attempt at immediately bringing a championship to Brooklyn, where in hindsight, building a strong supporting cast around him and Irving perhaps may have been the right option. With his star teammates’ unavailability for much of his time there, Kevin Durant had to shoulder a lot of the weight of expectation, and that is likely what led to his decision to request a trade.