Kevin Durant Reflects on ‘Amazing’ Stretch With Harden, Irving

The Brooklyn Nets were expected to become the NBA’s top dogs a couple of years back. As Kevin Durant healed up from a season-long injury recovery and Kyrie Irving hoped to stay healthy, the Nets were working on getting a disgruntled superstar from the Houston Rockets on their team as the final piece to their big three puzzle.

James Harden had two teams battling hard for his services in the Philadelphia 76ers and the Nets. While Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle both seemed Houston-bound that season, the Rockets refused to send Harden to Philadelphia. Instead, they struck a deal with the Nets.

Suddenly, the NBA’s next super team was born. A big three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden were expected to churn out several championships. As we know now, it turned out to be a massive failure, as all three players are in a new home.

Harden was the first to leave Brooklyn, as he forced his way out to the Sixers last year. Recently, Harden sounded off on his time with the Nets, making it clear that there were plenty of behind-the-scenes issues factoring into his desire to leave.

While Durant and Irving stuck around for another season, they couldn’t make it through the trade deadline. Irving forced his way out to the Dallas Mavericks. Durant was recently introduced as the newest member of the Phoenix Suns.

During his first interview following the trade, Durant acknowledged the big three days of playing alongside Irving and Harden. While the former MVP was fond of the time those three spent on the court together, he acknowledged that their struggles to remain intact due to injuries and other factors weren’t sustainable.

"We just didn't get on the court enough," Durant said. "I think when you seen James, Kyrie and myself, it was amazing basketball for [16] games, but in order for you to win a championship and be a great team, you just need more time on the floor.

…

It's another story about why we didn't get on the floor together, but we just didn't get enough time on the floor. And those are Hall of Fame players that I learned a lot from every day. I'm wishing them the best as well. It just didn't work out."

via ESPN

Every star involved in the big three is doing something different these days. Irving is getting settled into his new role, playing alongside Luka Doncic on the Mavericks. Durant is resting up and working on getting healthy and returning to the floor to make his debut with the Suns.

Meanwhile, James Harden is continuing to thrive in a system with the Sixers while playing with the six-time All-Star Joel Embiid. Although Harden had doubts surrounding him when he played with Durant and Irving since many believed minimized usage and fewer opportunities to play on-ball would limit his value, the ten-time All-Star is proving many wrong in Philadelphia, as he thrives in more of a facilitator role while still getting his scoring numbers at a high clip.

The Nets’ super-team was surely a failure, but everybody involved is moving on and happy to put everything in the past.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.