James Harden Forced to Take Fall for Nets’ Downfall Despite Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving’s Hasty Exit

At least on paper, one of the offensively strongest trios was when Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving were put together in the Brooklyn Nets in 2021. Hopes and expectations were through the roof, as the Big Three were considered favorites to lift the championship that year. Regrettably, their full potential could not be brought to fruition. Today, we remember the team with this trio as one of the most disappointing super-teams ever, and for good reason.

In the time they were together, the three stars played a meager 16 games together, winning 13. Over time, cracks began to surface within the team, and Harden demanded a trade, leaving for Philly in February 2022. Since he was the first to up and leave, the blame for the failure of the Big Three fell on him.

Irving and KD wanted to leave because James Harden left

According to sports analyst Shannon Sharpe, had Harden been a little patient, the Big Three wouldn’t have fallen apart. He said, “It seems like James Harden was unwilling to wait or give or take time because seemingly he wanted out.” Eventually, Irving followed suit and demanded a trade, landing in Dallas in February of last year. Now that the trio was dissolved, KD too wanted to leave; he was traded to the Suns a few days later. Shannon asserted that it all boils down to Harden jumping the gun first. “James got out first and then Kyrie and now Kevin Durant and what could have been, or what we thought was going to be really, never came to fruition.”

We hardly got to see how powerful the three were together, but when on the rare occasions they did play as a unit, they were unstoppable. To put things into perspective, the Suns’ Bradley Beal, KD, and Devin Booker have played more games than the Nets’ Big Three. That is insane because Beal has just come back from a back injury, missing a major chunk of the season. There was more than one reason that triggered the downfall of the Nets trio.

Injuries and Kyrie’s stance

Right off the bat, all three were plagued by injuries throughout the season. Additionally, Kyrie had to miss a majority of the 2021-22 season due to his anti-vaccination stance, which was another factor in the decreased amount of time they played together. Later, KD suffered another injury shortly after Kyrie’s return. By this time, Harden was already about to demand a trade.

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Regardless of how it played out, the failure of the Nets’ Big Three will probably go down as one of the biggest ‘could’ve been’ stories in the league. The Nets went from being a serious contender for a championship to needing to undertake an abrupt rebuild after the trio fell apart.

Do you think the Nets could have won a championship had the Big Three somehow stuck it out together? Let us know in the comments below!

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