Getty James Harden, Kevin Durant, Joe Harris and Jeff Green of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets 2020-21 season has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Despite all of the injuries, absences, and retirements in between the Nets were able to finish the season with a record of 48-24 which earned them a second-place spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Because of the wealth of talent that the Nets have with their All-Star trio of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant, many experts have chosen them as the favorites to win this year’s NBA Finals. While the Nets may be the majority pick, they are in no way the unanimous choice. One Hall of Famer does not even think that they will get the chance to represent the East in the NBA Finals.
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Charles Barkley Picks Bucks To Win the Eastern Conference
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is known for making his outlandish takes on TNT’s Inside the NBA, mostly because they are often wrong. During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up! On Thursday he made his pick on which team would come out of the Eastern Conference this year and his choice was a surprising one.
“The Milwaukee Bucks are coming out of the East, guaranteed,” Barkley said on Get Up! on Thursday. “The additions of Jrue Holiday and PJ Tucker. I think Giannis has had the quietest MVP year we’ve seen from a player in a long time. Listen, his numbers are the same numbers he’s had the last few years. … Giannis has been great all year. … I think Milwaukee is coming out of the East.”
Charles Barkley calls the Brooklyn Nets “championship or bust.” That being said …
“The Milwaukee Bucks are coming out of the East GUARANTEED!”
😳
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The Bucks & Nets Could Meet in the Eastern Conference Finals
The Bucks as elite as they may be, have earned themselves a reputation as a team that has always been middle of the pack as it pertains to them winning a championship. They are always amongst the elite teams in the regular season, but year after year in the playoffs they just do not have what it takes to get to the next level.
The Bucks got the best of the Nets in their final two outings this season. Despite the Philadelphia 76ers being the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, many people are expecting the Bucks and the Nets to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals this year. It is a matchup that would be particularly enjoyed by KD as he knows that playing against the stiff competition is the only way to improve.
“You want to gauge yourself against the best defender, best team defense, best coaching,” Durant said after a loss to the Bucks earlier season via ESPN. “That’s the only way you’ll get better as a player. So, I get excited, and I relish these opportunities, and we do as a team.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo echoes a similar sentiment to Durant’s. As a two-two MVP, he knows that iron sharpens iron.
“Growing up, you want to play against the best; and coming down to the wire, going back and forth, that’s what you always dreamed about,” Giannis said after a win against the Nets earlier this month via ESPN.
Giannis against KD with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line would surely be must-see television especially with the amount of respect that the two former league MVPs have for each other. Brooklyn’s race to the title starts with Game 1 against the Celtics on Saturday night.
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