If there were any doubts over just how frayed the relationship between Kevin Durant and James Harden had become in Brooklyn prior to the All-Star guard’s trade, Durant’s ice-cold demeanour during the NBA All-Star draft told the entire story.
Durant, the captain of one of the All-Star teams after finishing as a top-two vote-getter alongside LeBron James, barely broke into a smile during the draft, while James and the NBA on TNT crew quipped at Harden’s swift exit out of Brooklyn.
After James selected Toronto’s Fred VanVleet with his second-to-last pick, leaving Durant with the choice of his former teammate or Utah centre Rudy Gobert, a stone-faced Durant snubbed Harden.
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He cited the need for his team to have more size as the reason for his selection, despite already having two seven-footers in Joel Embiid and Karl Anthony-Towns on his roster.
When asked about the recently-completed blockbuster deal which saw Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond join the Nets, Durant said he was “excited” but seemed visibly unimpressed by Harden’s request to leave a team he’d asked to join just over 12 months earlier.
“Looking forward to finishing the season out with this new group and these new players,” he said.
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“It’s the playoffs right around the corner so we’ve got to fast-track into getting used to each other, but I think everyone got what they wanted.
“I feel like we got versatile players so we have to figure it out and figure out what works for us, but I’m just happy that we got guys who want to be part of this.”
Harden’s exit has been followed by reports of unrest between he and Durant’s teammate and friend Kyrie Irving, who still remains a part-time player due to his refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a report from The Athletic, a “weird vibe” had developed between the two star guards, with Irving eager to see a Harden trade come to fruition once news of Harden’s desire to move to another team became apparent.
However, as Durant’s visible reaction to the deal suggests, his own relationship with Harden had also deteriorated over time, with a separate report claiming that the pair had clashed over their “ideals of the team’s culture”.
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The Harden-Irving-Durant trio is now consigned to becoming one of the NBA’s great ‘What if?’ teams of the modern era.
Despite their less than ideal blend of personalities off the court, there was no doubting the on-court chemistry between the three, as they displayed to frightening effect during last year’s first-round playoff demolition job of Boston before both Harden and Irving were injured.
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Incredibly, Harden, Irving and Durant played just 16 games together at the Nets, amassing an impressive 13-3 record.
With one complicated star out the door, Durant now has another in Simmons as his running mate. If he’s able to turn the troubled Aussie’s career around, it might just be his greatest ever feat.