Getty Kevin Durant argues a call during Brooklyn's loss to the Lakers.
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has been doing numbers both on and off of the court lately. Durant led all Nets scorers with 32 points in Game 2 as Brooklyn clobbered the Milwaukee Bucks 125-86 and cruised to a 2-0 lead in the series.
One thing that has been clear in this series, is that KD is just not the same as the other players on the basketball court. He is built differently than everyone else, specifically Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo. On Tuesday, June 8 edition of ESPN’s Get Up! NBA Analyst Jay Williams detailed a time where Durant came up to him and told him to stop comparing him to the ‘Greek Freak.’
“Don’t you ever compare me to Giannis” – Kevin Durant told Jay Williams put some respek’ on his name.
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Kevin Durant Calls Jay Williams’ Bluff
When Durant caught wind of the story that Williams told on Get Up! the Nets’ star immediately fired back and accused Williams of making the entire story up.
“Mans will do anything to advance their careers in this media s***, wanting to be accepted by an industry that will dispose of you whenever they please,” Durant said via his Twitter account on Tuesday. “Keep me out all that corny a** talk about who’s better and legacy and all that dumb a** s**. I don’t even talk like that.”
Kevin Durant calls 🧢
Mans will do anything to advance their careers in this media shit, wanting to be accepted by an industry that will dispose of you whenever they please. Keep me out all that corny ass talk about whos better and legacy and all that dumb ass shit. I don’t even talk like that
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Nash Speaks on the Importance of Kyrie Irving
Even with James Harden’s quick exit in Game 1 against the Bucks, the Nets have still managed to come out of Brooklyn with a 2-0 lead due to the never-ending allotment of star power on Brooklyn’s roster. Kyrie Irving has been a huge contributor as he is averaging 23.5 points in his two games played. However, what cannot be recorded on a stat sheet is the timeliness of the plays that Irving has been making. Every time that the Bucks have tried to make a run to cut into the Nets’ lead during the series, Kyrie has either scored, made the right pass, or made a defensive stand. Nets’ head coach Steve Nash acknowledges that Irving’s value toward this Nets team can never be overstated.
“Kyrie was so important for us just giving us that outlet and that person that can make a play. He’s been there before. He was just such a presence on the court for us. He was unlucky tonight to not have a monster game,” Nash told reporters after Game 1 per NetsDaily. “I think he had a lot of balls were in and out, but they looked good and those will go down for him.”
Kyrie Sounds off on ‘Next Man up’ Mentality
In the first two games of the series, the Nets are beating the Bucks by an average of 23.5 points per game even without the services of Harden. While Irving will take the wins, he understands that the phrase ‘next man up’ is not as easy as others often make it sound. He has alluded to it in the past.
“Everyone likes to say this phrase ‘Next Man Up Mentality,’ but it’s hard to do that when we started off kind of the last few months together,” Irving said after Spencer Dinwiddie tore his ACL in December of 2020 per Nets Wire. “And we’ve played together a certain type of style, and then we have one of our pieces go down. … It’s the tale of the business. Guys get hurt all the time. We have to figure [out] some things that work for the group that we put out there.”
With a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals hanging in the balance, the Nets really do not have the time to estimate when injured players are coming back. Nash will have to go with his best available players throughout this series and live with the results.
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