“Kevin Durant is left by himself holding his bag” - Stephen A. Smith disappointed by the ‘nonsense’ around the Brooklyn Nets with Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons
Kevin Durant returned to the court after missing 21 games for the Brooklyn Nets, and they lost. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith went on his show, “First Take,” and passionately expressed his issues that it seems like Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons have left Durant with no help.
31 PTS
Kevin Durant in his first game back since January:
▪️ 31 PTS
▪️ 4 REB
▪️ 4 AST https://t.co/5rLlKKpFrn
Durant played 35 minutes, scoring 31 points on his return against the Miami Heat, losing the game 113-107. The Heat sit atop the Eastern Conference, so without Irving, it is understandable that the Nets would lose this game. Smith is disappointed by the stuff going behind the scenes with Irving and Simmons and believes they have let Durant down. He said:
“At the end of the day, Kevin Durant is left by himself holding his bag…But as a basketball lover who knows Kyrie is great, who knows Ben Simmons is great. Who fantasies about seeing them on the court together, and let's all get it on and find out who’s the best team. I am so incredibly disappointed for fans, for people like myself, and basketball.”
This Nets team does have a lot of untapped potential that we can never see till they are all available to play. Smith has been a critic of both Irving and Simmons for not putting the team first, making sense that he would go on this tirade. As an NBA fan, you would hope that the Nets could eventually get everyone on the court simultaneously, but it is still very unclear when that will happen.
How far can Kevin Durant take this Nets team?
The fact is that Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the NBA, but because of his injuries over the last two seasons, it has been up and down. In the previous season, Durant only played 35 games in the shortened season and has already played 37 games this season with a little under 20 left.
However, Durant has easily been one of the NBA’s top scorers, averaging 29.3 points per game when on the court. When it came to the playoffs, last season, when injuries hit the Nets team in the second round, Durant scored over 40 points in two must-win games.
Kevin Durant plays basketball tomorrow (hopefully)
https://t.co/gMtVft1enn
On his own, Durant changes the way the Nets play and makes them a clear playoff team. The issue would be how far they can go. With Irving hopefully playing half of the playoff games, for now, that will be some much-needed help for Durant. Even though the pair have only played three games together, they have already shown they don’t need to get used to playing alongside each other because of their connection off the court.
The biggest question is how Simmons fits in. The Nets could make it to the Eastern Conference Finals with just Durant and Irving playing half the time and some luck.
With Simmons, that could make them title contenders even if Irving is playing half the games. This is something we have to wait and see as NBA fans to see how it all plays out. However, Simmons has skipped out this whole season and has been set back with a back injury while getting ready to play for the Nets.
Kevin Durant will need to put a lot on his shoulders for the time being. He is just returning from injury, so that is a troublesome point, but hopefully, his co-stars will figure things out to get on the court.