Getty Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets.
It is no secret that the Brooklyn Nets roster is loaded with talent. Just between James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving alone the Nets have 27 NBA All-Star appearances. This is not even including the likes of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan who have also been All-Stars in the past.
With all of the offensive talent that the Nets have at their disposal, you can only imagine how competitive their team practices are. With three of the best shot creators to ever grace the NBA sharing a court together, it is where Brooklyn’s stars prepare to do battle during the game.
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Kevin Durant Says He ‘Destroys’ Kyrie Irving In Nets’ Practice
These past playoffs Durant proved that he is one of the greatest post-season performers of All-Time. He scored 48 points in Game 7 of their second-round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. Although it was in a losing effort Durant now holds the record for the most points in a Game 7 in NBA history.
Durant’s success in the actual game begins in practice. According to the two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, during those practices, he and Kyrie have had heated battles where Durant claims he destroyed the Nets star point guard.
“Last summer me and Kyrie [Irving] got a lot of ones in and I was doing a lot of cooking on him. Like really destroying him one on one… But James, we really didn’t get it in just yet. Probably after the Olympics and stuff, but me and Kyrie, we had some nice battles. I won the majority of them because you know I’m supreme at what I do, but Kyrie definitely challenged me,” Durant said during a recent appearance on Twitter Spaces per Landon Buford.
“Coming back from my Achilles having to guard someone like Kyrie in the workout where he is creative with unlimited dribbles there were definitely some battles for sure. But I am definitely getting that w.”
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Kevin Durant Models His Game After Tracy McGrady
Durant may not have been one of the original stretch fours, but he is still a unicorn in his own right.
Kevin Garnett had the dribbling ability and post-up game but was never really a dead eye three-point shooter. Dirk Nowitzki had the three-point shooting ability and post-up game but was never an elite ball handler. Durant encapsulates all of those attributes into his game which is why he is basically unguardable. But at nearly seven feet tall if you ask him who he models his game after the answer might surprise you.
” I wouldn’t say I tried to emulate what they do. I wanted to play how they played. I wanted to dominate a game like a T-Mac did. That is one of the guys that I watched and duplicate games. Not necessarily his skill level when he was doing his move or whatever. In the game I was playing in that night, my coach would tell me, you got to dominate as T-Mac did,” Durant said per Landon Buford.
“From controlling the game because Mac was handling, posting, shooting threes, passing out dimes, and rebounding. So, my coach was like you have to do everything too. That is how I looked at NBA players, and that’s how I added production into my game.”
The Nets will be coming into next season looking for revenge after a disappointing playoff exit in 2021. This could lead to even more intense practices between the Nets All-Stars.
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