In the summer of 2019, the Nets embarked on the most ambitious project in their history and one of the most important ever started in the NBA. The "small" New York franchise signed two of the best players in the league at the same time: Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The latter, for many, the best player that can be seen today on a basketball court.
sourcce: yahoo sports
Bearing in mind that only five players can play this sport at a time, it's easy to understand the transformation these signings bring to a team. During that first season, Durant was injured and the Brooklyn Nets took it upon themselves to prepare for great achievements.
The following year, the team went all out and added another star to their squad: James Harden. The Nets thus brought together three of the most coveted players in the league and postulated themselves as a legendary team destined to win several rings.
A few weeks ago, Durant was traded from the Nets to the Phoenix Suns. A few days before, the Nets had gotten rid of Irving, and the previous year of Harden, so that pharaonic project was completely dismantled without having even reached the NBA final for a year.
Without a doubt, we are facing one of the greatest FAILURES in the history of sports, although memory is selective and we often forget the very thin and capricious line between success and failure. Sometimes as thin as a basketball shoe size.
In the spring of 2021, the Nets started as undisputed favorites for the ring and had their three stars playing at full capacity. In the first round, they won easily and in the second they dominated by 2 games to 0 against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the third game, Kyrie Irving was injured, the Nets lost and everything was in doubt. But a stellar Durant put the team on his back and the tie reached the seventh and decisive game.
With a few seconds to go in the last game, the Bucks are winning by just two points and the Nets have the ball. Who do they pass it to? Durant, obviously, takes responsibility and hits a 3-pointer in the last second. And he scores, he made it . Nets players are hugging each other and going crazy because they just eliminated the toughest opponent in the league, the ring is at their fingertips.
source: substack.com
Or not? Wait. The replay reveals that Durant is stepping on the line with the toe of his shoe (in the photo above, if you look closely, you can see it). It is not a triple, it is two points. You have to play overtime. Unmotivated Nets are eliminated in overtime. The Milwaukee Bucks advance and, a few days later, they are proclaimed NBA champions.
The funniest (or maddening) thing is that Durant confesses at the end of the game that he wears a bigger shoe than he should for pure comfort. After that surreal elimination, the team does not raise its head. First, they get angry with Harden, who asks for the transfer. Then, with the coach and finally, the project is undone.
In the statistics and in the collective memory, it will remain that the Nets of Durant and company were nonsense, an example of how not to do things. But if Durant had worn a shoe his size, they would have eliminated the Bucks and probably (it's impossible to know for sure) a few days later, they would have won the NBA. Everything would be very different if that triple had gone up on the scoreboard.ce: