Getty
The last time Steph Curry and Kevin Durant played in a game together, the two were members of a Golden State Warriors team that won two titles between 2016-19. With a roster filled with All-Stars, they were a legitimate superteam.
“it was some of the best basketball the world’s ever seen,” Curry said, via Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “The ability to put that much talent and experience together and make it work — there was no guarantee it was going to work, and we figured it out.”
Durant, now on the Brooklyn Nets after signing with them in the 2019 offseason, returned to the Bay Area on Saturday for the first time since leaving the Warriors. His new team has built a superteam of its own.
Ahead of the highly anticipated Nets-Warriors matchup, Curry weighed in on the NBA’s newest Big Three.
Follow the Heavy on Nets Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content out of Brooklyn!
Steph Curry Chimes In
The Nets on January 14 acquired James Harden in a four-way trade with the Houston Rockets. Suddenly, Durant and Kyrie Irving had a third co-star.
With Harden in the mix, “they’re a different team,” Curry said, via Lewis. “Obviously with James and just that three-headed monster… I’m sure they’re still figuring themselves out in terms of how they’re going to coexist and play. Obviously, when you have three guys like that, when they all click, you’ve seen it — offensively they’re unbelievable.”
The numbers back that sentiment up. Since the Harden trade, the Nets are averaging 122.1 points per game — second only to the Milwaukee Bucks (122.2) over that span.
Durant, meanwhile, is averaging 29.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists, numbers made even more remarkable considering this is his first season back from a torn Achilles that cost him all of last season and ended his 2019 campaign prematurely. Durant currently leads the Eastern Conference in All-Star fan voting.
Warriors Welcome Back Durant
Golden State honored Durant with a video tribute Saturday and plan to do a full ceremony next season and retire his No. 35 jersey, per Lewis.
Golden State honors KD with this tribute video ✊
(via @warriors)
“Hopefully it’d be nothing but a standing ovation and giving him the respect he deserves as a champion. That should be straightforward, no surprises there; he deserves it,” Curry said.
The only bummer this time around for Durant?
“It’s a shame the fans won’t be there,” per The Athletic’s Alex Schiffer.
Kevin Durant on his return to Golden State: “It’s a shame the fans won’t be there.”
Golden State coach Steve Kerr echoed that point.
“I know we’re all looking forward to seeing him, it’s just too bad that there won’t be any fans in the stands,” Kerr said, per the Associated Press. “I imagine that next season, knock on wood, we’d have fans back in the stands and we will commemorate his return when that comes.”
READ NEXT: Kevin Durant Receives One-of-a-Kind Kobe Bryant Gift [WATCH]