Kevin Durant’s initial response functioned less as a dispassionate roster evaluation and more as a passionate defense of his failed Brooklyn Nets experiment.
When asked by Boardroom to name the best team he played for “on paper,” Durant selected the 2020-21 Nets, naming Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, and Patty Mills. “We had the names on that team,” Durant asserted.
The Nets possessed nothing beyond those names.
Durant’s argument tallies career accomplishments while ignoring when they were actually achieved. Brooklyn did not secure the All-NBA iterations of Griffin, Aldridge, or Millsap; instead, the franchise acquired recognizable veterans whose primes had already passed.
The roster’s true value rested on Durant, Irving, and Harden. While devastating when healthy, the trio shared the court for just 16 regular-season games and never progressed past the second round.
The Warriors’ case requires no creative accounting.
Golden State had already won a championship and 73 games before Durant arrived. The team went 67-15 and captured the title in his first season, subsequently reaching three consecutive Finals and winning two championships, with Durant earning Finals MVP honors both times.
If “on paper” means evaluating the players who actually shared the court—rather than aggregating every accolade they earned across their lifetimes—the Warriors were undeniably superior.
So why did Durant initially reach for Brooklyn?
Was it because the Nets were his project? Durant and Irving chose Brooklyn together and subsequently helped lure in Harden, constructing a roster that reflected Durant’s personal championship vision. The Warriors, however, were already Stephen Curry’s team and an established dynasty. Though Durant became their most formidable Finals performer, Curry remained the franchise’s face and emotional center. Elevating Brooklyn first amplifies the team Durant built while diminishing the ready-made juggernaut that critics claim he needed.
Durant only reversed his verdict after recalling that DeMarcus Cousins was on the 2018-19 Warriors.
“With Cousins at the five, that’s probably the best team that I’ve been a part of,” he conceded, bumping Brooklyn to second place.
If recalling one injury-plagued center is enough to alter the answer, the initial argument was never sturdy to begin with.
Brooklyn was the greatest collection Durant ever helped assemble. Golden State was the greatest team.
His initial answer revealed the legacy he remains most eager to defend.
