Last we saw Kevin Durant before this season began, he was at the absolute peak of his powers, carving up the eventual NBA champion Bucks with full understanding that to win, the Nets needed just about every possession to revolve around his decision making. The urgency elevated Durant to a higher echelon. Even in defeat, he was coronated as the best player alive, earning the awe and adulation that was overlooked (fairly or not) after winning two Finals MVP trophies.
Kyrie Irving missed the last 3.5 games of that classic Eastern Conference semifinals with a sprained ankle, and for its entirety, James Harden was severely hampered by a torn hamstring. Today, with a remodified supporting cast—one that’s prioritized outside shooting and experience over independent shot creation—Irving is once again absent as Harden finds himself adjusting to a dramatically different relationship with the referee’s whistle.
Until further notice, not only does Durant not find himself where he was five months ago, but his surroundings are similar to those that compelled him to favor the Warriors over the Thunder back in 2016.
The Nets find themselves trying to navigate this need to utilize the world’s top player as much as they want to or could in a perfect world, knowing he’s a 33-year-old drawing as much or more defensive attention than ever before. Durant has an unprecedented combination of size, grace and supreme confidence that can single-handedly generate quality offense, but the sustainability of it all is another question.
“It’s hard not to use Kevin Durant,” Nets head coach Steve Nash says. “There's the choice to use him and then there's just, the ball finds Kevin Durant because he's so difficult to defend. So it's not all us being like 'Let's go to Kevin. Let's go to Kevin.' … Part of it is just how talented and supernatural he is. But definitely we're aware; we want the whole group to play well together and find combinations and lineups that can be effective offensively, so it's not hyper dependent on Kevin and we don't over-rely on him.”
There’s a huge difference between one or two playoff rounds and a colossal 82-game regular season. And watching the inevitability of Durant’s influence jibe with such demanding circumstances is one of this early season’s most fascinating and important developments. As great as Durant is, the degree of difficulty he faces on a nightly basis is as high as ever.