The Brooklyn Nets have two future Hall of Famers on their roster in the starting lineup, and even that wasn’t enough to get out of the first round or even win a game against the Boston Celtics.
There were a lot of distractions throughout the season, but with all of that behind them now Brooklyn can look forward to a healthy Ben Simmons joining the team and creating a new Big 3.
Somebody else who’s sitting at home and watching the playoffs like the Nets is Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. On May 16 James held a questions and answers session on Twitter where he answered what fans had to ask.
One of them asked if he could take any teammate, former or present, to team up with and go against Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who would it be?
He didn’t pick current Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, but he did pick a pair of Nets.
LeBron Respects the Nets Duo
@SBNation Kobe, KD or Kyrie
There are a lot of players you could pick if you’re playing in a 2v2 if you’re LeBron, but he decided to play it safe and go with players he knows he’d be a good fit with.
Interestingly enough he only decided on one former teammate and the other two were players he’s never actually been teammates with.
His answers were Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Everyone knows him and Kyrie were a good fit because of the championship the pair won in Cleveland back in 2016, and there’s good reason to expect he’d pair well with Bryant and Durant as well.
Considering this would be a game against Jordan and Pippen, this is a strong message being sent by LeBron since he consider the three players he picked to be on level necessary to compete against the Hall of Fame duo with six championships.
At this stage in their careers, it seems unlikely that Durant and Irving will ever get a chance to team up with LeBron.
For what it’s worth, Irving recently spoke about his breakup with the Cavs that led him to join the Celtics and eventually the Nets.
Irving Has His Regrets
GettyKyrie Irving regrets his Cavs exit.
Speaking on the I AM ATHLETE podcast, Irving went into detail about how the trade out of Cleveland happened.
“If I was in the same maturity line and understanding of who I am [now], and I look back, we definitely, definitely would’ve won more championships,” Irving said as transcribed by CBS Sports. “Because there would’ve been a better man-to-man understanding [with LeBron] about what I’m going through. I didn’t know how to share my emotions. I didn’t know how to do that. So instead of sharing, I isolated myself.”
There’s no knowing for certain if championships were left on the table, but the duo of LeBron and Kyrie was nothing to sleep on. If he could go back, Irving said he wished he would have talked to LeBron instead of going straight into the trade request.
“We didn’t talk during that time,” he said. “When I look back on what I was going through at that time, I wish I did [talk to LeBron], because it would’ve been a good understanding of what the future will hold for both of us and we know how much power we both had together. Me and him in the league together running Cleveland, and then being able to put a better team together every single year would’ve definitely been worth it.”
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LeBron Adds Kyrie Irving & KD to Shortlist of Ideal Teammates for Hypothetical Pairing