Getty Can this duo win a championship?
With the Brooklyn Nets on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs, hot takes about the team are flying around left and right.
Because of the way the Celtics are dominating the Nets, up 3-0 in the series, questions are being asked of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. More specifically, there are people wondering if the duo can ever lead the Nets to a championship. It’s no question that this series has been brutal, but the same can be said of the season as a whole.
James Harden was shipped out of town, Irving missed the bulk of the season, and Durant went down with an injury that caused the Nets to sink into the play-in tournament.
If the Celtics complete a sweep, even more questions will be asked, but the most important one is if Durant and Irving can bring a championship to Brooklyn? NBA legend Magic Johnson is wondering that very thing.
Magic Speaks Out
I’ve seen some of the best duos that have ever played in the NBA in my 40 years of being associated with the league. After watching the first three games between the Celtics and the Nets, I’m wondering if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are a good fit.🤔
Johnson has played on his fair share of championship teams, five of them to be exact, so he knows a bit of what it takes to win one. Because of that he is wondering if Irving and Durant have what it takes.
“I’ve seen some of the best duos that have ever played in the NBA in my 40 years of being associated with the league,” Johnson tweeted. “After watching the first three games between the Celtics and the Nets, I’m wondering if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are a good fit.”
The idea behind this pairing was to also have James Harden, but he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons. Simmons was trying to debut for the Celtics series, but he has since been ruled out for Game 4, potentially the last game of the season for the Nets.
This turn of events has led to Irving and Durant leading the team, and the superstar duo has been unable to win a game so far, and both of them have had a rough series.
Can They Coexist?
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesKyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
It seems like asking if the two can play together is a silly question to ask as both of them are NBA champions, so both know what it takes to win.
What question might need to be asked here is if either player can be the leader on a championship team. For Irving, it was no question that those Cavs were LeBron’s team and Durant joined an already stacked Warriors roster.
Neither player had to be the lead player there, and both have them have had their share of struggles since leaving those respective teams. The talent is not in question, but this potential sweep against Boston does raise a lot of questions from both the media and fans.
If Simmons is able to come back healthy next year and be a strong third option, this might not even be an issue. This year was a rough one for the Nets, and a reset might be what’s needed here.
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5-Time NBA Champion Casts Major Doubt on Nets’ Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving