Brutally eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Brooklyn took a hell of a slap in the face against the Celtics. However, Kevin Durant would have prepared for it in advance… In any case, this is what a Euroleague player, very close to the Slim Reaper, claimed.
With all the galleys the Nets went through in the regular season, to the point of having to play the Play-In, we expected them to have trouble against Boston. On the other hand, who could have predicted that Kevin Durant & co. were going to be swept away in just four games? However, that’s exactly what happened, and Steve Nash’s men came out the very small door on the first lap. Not really what we expected from the New York superteam…
Symbol of this collective sinking, the winger has also been catastrophic throughout the series, displaying a marksmanship to vomit according to his standards (38.6% including 33% from afar). But maybe it was also because he had given up almost immediately? In any case, this is what Mike James recently suggested, friend and former teammate of the 2014 MVP and who currently wears the colors of AS Monaco. He made a startling revelation:
Mike James unpacks on Kevin Durant
“[Kevin Durant] called me before the playoffs start, he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna be there [at your playoff game] in like a couple weeks. We fitting to lose.'” ????
— Mike James
(via @PlayersChoice_h/t @blbuckets3)pic.twitter.com/f6wQY4wzHF
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 1, 2022
When they (the Nets, editor’s note) started to suck, I called him to ask him to come see me play in the playoffs. He replied “no chance of me coming to your playoff game”. And then a week later, he called me before the Euroleague playoffs started, he called me back and said, “Yeah, actually I’ll be there, we’re going to lose anyway”.
It should be noted that this exchange took place in the middle of the opposition between the Celtics and Brooklyn… KD therefore quickly felt the tide turn, and decided to change his plans in order to go see his great friend. On the other hand, the anecdote is clearly not going to please his franchise, nor the fans for that matter since he concretely gave up when his people technically still had a chance. Number 7 therefore had the right to quite dry reactions:
Yeah KD isn’t mentally tough. Not a big secret
— Hbtrojan58 (@HBTrojan58) August 1, 2022
Yeah, KD is mentally weak. It’s not a secret
Obviously, Kevin Durant had very quickly understood that the adventure of the Nets was going to stop in the first round. Still, he would certainly have appreciated that Mike James wouldn’t let go of this private info…because it’s not going to do his reputation any good.