Brooklyn Nets: Problematic pairing of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

Durant’s history as a leader not spectacular

Kevin Durant, throughout his career, is unquestionably a better leader than Irving. He made the playoffs six times with OKC as their franchise leader, but he also had help from Russell Westbrook, a great player and leader in his own right.

The only team Durant led to an NBA Finals appearance was the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder, who lost to the eventual champions Miami Heat that year. The Thunder won just one game in that series.

Still, Durant was the centerpiece of those Thunder playoff teams and his leadership was pretty good, but that was four years ago, soon to be five if 2019-20 is a redshirt year for Durant.

A strained relationship with Westbrook coupled with the  frustration of years of failing to win an NBA championship precipitated Durant’s unpopular departure from OKC to Golden State in 2016.

In a shocking turn of events Durant signed with a 73-win Warrior team that lost in the Finals in 2016, but won the championship just one year before.

His leadership could be called into question here because the Thunder had a 3-1 lead over Golden State in the 2016 Western Conference finals. Durant choked in that series and the Thunder were eliminated.

Upon joining Golden State and thus forming a superteam there, it’s hard to say Durant was the actual leader of those Warriors.

Despite him being a two-time NBA Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018, the Warriors were largely lead by a triumvirate committee of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Durant.

A youthful Kevin Durant in his prime can lead a team relatively deep into the playoffs if he has star help like Westbrook, but he is no longer in his prime and he’s seriously hurt.

It’s unfair and unrealistic to expect Durant to recover from an Achilles’ injury and lead a team like Brooklyn very far.

Even paired with Irving it would be difficult because like Westbrook, Irving is a ball dominant guard. Durant left the Thunder primarily because of that.