The Brooklyn Nets are never going to be at their best when Kevin Durant is injured, but there's a marked difference between their performance without him a season ago and the way they're playing right now. Last season, when Durant sprained his MCL, the Nets went 5-16 and had an 11-game losing streak. They've lost the only two games they've played since he got hurt this season, but both were competitive, one came without Ben Simmons, and they won their only game earlier in the season without Durant.
The man at the center of Brooklyn's approach without Durant is Kyrie Irving, and he not only gave himself credit for how the Nets are playing, but appeared to take a subtle shot at former teammate James Harden in the process. "Well I'm consistently in the lineup, that helps," Irving said after Sunday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. "We also don't have anyone who is halfway in in the locker room."
The jab is seemingly directed at Harden, who initially forced a trade to Brooklyn in 2021, but after a disappointing year with the Nets, managed to get himself traded to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2022 NBA trade deadline. Harden was present for the beginning of Durant's absence last season, and while his numbers largely remained stable, his defensive effort cratered and his interest was visibly waning. This culminated in Harden scoring four points in his final game as a Net, an 11-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. In that sense, Irving is right. Harden was halfway out of the locker room.
But Irving is still an odd person to make that point. He may have been fully invested in the Nets when he played last season, but he spent more than half of last season out of Brooklyn's locker room by choice. His decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 prevented him from playing in home games for most of the season and road games for part of it. Harden once joked about giving Irving the vaccine himself, suggesting that he wasn't thrilled with his star teammate's inconsistent availability.
Irving also considered leaving the Nets this offseason. He had a player-option that he could have declined in order to become a free agent, where many speculated he would take an enormous pay cut to join the Los Angeles Lakers. That didn't happen, but the Lakers and Nets did reportedly discuss an Irving trade without actually consummating a deal. This season, Irving missed eight games after being suspended for sharing an antisemitic documentary on his social media platforms.
Irving might be all-in on the Nets right now. Brooklyn's locker room is seemingly harmonious. But given every controversy he's been involved in over the past few seasons, he probably shouldn't be throwing stones in Harden's direction. Ultimately though, what's going to matter is Irving's performance. Durant will likely miss roughly one month, and it will be on his shoulders to keep the Nets afloat now that Harden isn't around to share the scoring load.
