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After having championship aspirations coming into the season, the Brooklyn Nets find themselves on the outside looking in as they were swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics.
Since coming to the Nets, Kevin Durant has seen a lot of individual success, but the team hasn’t been able to get over the hump and make it to the Finals, let alone win one. There were a lot of expectations for the team after they created a Big 3 of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Durant, but there’s not a whole lot to show for it at the moment.
FS1 analyst Shannon Sharpe believes that if the Golden State Warriors win the championship this season, Durant’s legacy will be impacted in a way that will put Steph Curry over him. Both players are surefire Hall of Famers if they retired now, but both of them are also in prime position to add even more to their accolades.
Up 1-0 over the Dallas Mavericks, Curry and the Warriors could add another championship to the collection, and that would give them four in the past decade.
Durant’s Legacy in Doubt?
Speaking on Undisputed, Sharpe concedes that Golden State needed Durant to win the back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018 just as much as he needed them, but Curry would still get the edge over him in an all-time list.
“I’ve always believed this. Golden State needed Kevin Durant as much as Kevin Durant needed Golden State,” he said. “I don’t believe they win two more titles without Kevin Durant and you see they lost to Toronto because Kevin Durant was injured.”
Despite that statement, Sharpe says Durant’s legacy is in serious jeopardy if Curry adds another title to his collection.
“All I know is in two years in Brooklyn, he’s won one playoff series,” he said. “Now here’s Steph Curry in the Western Conference Finals … Steph Curry wins another title, I don’t see how Kevin Durant can ever be ranked ahead of Steph Curry. He has four, he would have gotten two without Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant would have gotten none without him.”
For many people, this type of thing doesn’t matter, but legacy conversations are a big part of debates for a subsection of fans and it’s often the topic of discussion on shows like First Take and Undisputed.
Durant is Just Fine
GettyBen Simmons will be ready next year.
Winning a title is one of the hardest things to do in the NBA, and Durant has done it twice and was the Finals MVP both times.
A cherry on the top that would be a title with the Nets, but that’s far from guaranteed considering how this season went. The next season will begin with Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant forming yet another Big 3, but there’s no telling what type of player Simmons will be following a back surgery and over one year away from playing in an NBA game.
Durant is getting up there in age, but he still has some productive seasons left, and Nets fans will be hoping he can make the most of them.
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