Getty James Harden, Kevin Durant, Joe Harris and Jeff Green of the Brooklyn Nets.
Max Kellerman has named which Brooklyn Nets player he thinks is the key to them winning the NBA Finals. Spoiler alert, it is not Kevin Durant, James Harden, or Kyrie Irving. Who is it, you ask? None other than Nets starting center DeAndre Jordan. Jordan on the season is averaging 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, but according to Kellerman stats do not tell the entire story with DJ which is why his impact on the Nets flies under the radar.
Kellerman Says DeAndre Jordan Is the Key To Nets Title
“The answer is DeAndre Jordan, he is the key player on this Nets team as currently constructed,” Kellerman said during Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. “That’s right I said it, not to mention Joe Harris one of the best three-point shooters in the game. KD and Harden were balling without Kyrie. James Harden rolled out of bed looking like a hot mess, showed up fat and he and KD looked great together.”
.@maxkellerman called DeAndre Jordan the No. 1 key player on the Nets.
@stephenasmith was not ready 😆
Kellerman would later double down on his bold statement:
In Harden’s first two games as a Net, Kyrie did not play as he was away from the team due to personal reasons. Harden and Durant looked like the remix of when they were in Oklahoma City together. They immediately clicked and were beating teams with ease. When Kyrie returned, they lost back-to-back games to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Irving was not the reason they were losing, their lackadaisical defense was.
Kellerman Says Jordan Can Be The Nets Defensive Anchor
“So, everyone says oh Kyrie that’s going to be the issue. What they need is defense, they haven’t been playing defense, in fact, Steve Nash and DeAndre Jordan got into it, teammates got into it. DeAndre Jordan with all his size and still at his age athletic ability has not been very good defensively and they need him to be the anchor,” Kellerman said. “I said Stephen A., since the trade, Jarrett Allen is gone, they’re going to have to make a trade for a guy who can grab some defensive boards. The Nets really have a problem there when you’re playing Jeff Green at the five you have a real problem.”
Jordan and Nets head coach Steve Nash got into a heated altercation concerning his lack of defense in Brooklyn’s loss to the last place Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Jordan took that same anger and channeled it into a monster defensive performance against of the league’s best centers on Wednesday night. If Jordan is going to be the key for the Nets that Kellerman claims that he is, it is going to take him giving that type of defensive effort on a nightly basis.”
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DeAndre Jordan what’s he gonna give you? 12,15 okay minutes or 20 minutes that aren’t so great anymore in the modern NBA. He played real defense last night, Myles Turner didn’t do anything, and DeAndre Jordan actually also scored but the main thing was the defensive presence. He can be the eraser in the paint for any mistakes, when he has it together defensively and is communicating with his teammates the Nets actually have the answer they’re looking for.”
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Nets’ Key Player: Not Kyrie, Durant or Harden, Says Analyst