The Brooklyn Nets are the latest NBA super team, an offensive juggernaut with two former MVPs Kevin Durant and James Harden and the owner of one of the biggest pitches in NBA Finals history, Kyrie Irving, who is also widely regarded as the best sport manager saw.
But LeBron James was not ready to declare the trio an unprecedented set when asked about Brooklyn before the Los Angeles Lakers’ first game against the new Nets on Thursday.
“Um, have we forgotten about KD, Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson)?” James said after the Lakers’ 112-104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. “I mean, there it is. There it is.”
James knows this group of Golden State Warriors well – beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 and 18 consecutive championships.
But the highest point average that Durant, Curry and Thompson achieved in their three seasons together was 75.8 per game in 2018-19.
Durant (29.0), Irving (28.3) and Harden (23.9) joined Tuesday with an average of 80.7 points for the Nets this season.
Thursday’s clash will be lacking some firepower. LA will be without Anthony Davis, who suffered a sprained calf and aggravated Achilles tendinosis in his right leg on Sunday. He will see the team’s doctors when the Lakers return home on Wednesday.
“We will see how he responds to treatment and we will reevaluate it in a few weeks,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Durant lost the last two games due to a strain on his left hamstring and Irving was left out of Tuesday’s victory against the Phoenix Suns with stiffness in the lower back.
That said, James said he is looking forward to seeing these Nets in person for the first time.
“It is always exciting for me to face some of the best players in the game – and they have three of them,” he said. “They have three of the best guys in the game. They would definitely love to be full when you’re playing against a team like that and see, like, at that point in the season, how you fit in – how you fit in against some of the best teams in the league . And, obviously, we won’t be crowded on Thursday. But other than that, yes, I love to go out there and be on the ground with some of the best players in this game. “
James’ teammate Montrezl Harrell was less enthusiastic. He was part of the new NBA toy with the LA Clippers last season, when the historically unsatisfactory franchise added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and immediately became a favorite to win the title.
Maybe going through all this hype, just to be part of the elimination of the Clippers in the second round playoff for the Denver Nuggets, taught him that the regular season is not always the best indicator of success in the postseason.
“Honestly, I don’t really care,” said Harrell. “We come into each game with a game plan, we know offensively, defensively what we want to do to win that game, and that will be the same thing that we will have to do when we play on Thursday.
“There is nothing different. We are not circulating this game. We are not putting any extra emphasis on it. It is like any other game – we are playing one game at a time. We are still learning, we are still growing and still building with each other, and we will have to do this to a higher standard with the loss of one of our big pieces [in Davis]. “