Kevin Durant’s first answer sounded less like a roster evaluation than a defense of the failed Brooklyn Nets experiment.
Asked by Boardroom to name the best team he played for “on paper,” Durant chose the 2020-21 Nets, citing Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap and Patty Mills.
“We had the names on that team,” Durant said.
Names were precisely what Brooklyn had.
Durant’s argument counts career accomplishments without considering when they were earned. The Nets did not acquire the All-NBA versions of Griffin, Aldridge or Millsap. They acquired recognizable veterans after their best basketball was behind them.
The roster’s real case rested on Durant, Irving and Harden. That trio was devastating when available, but it played only 16 regular-season games together and never advanced beyond the second round.
Golden State’s case requires no creative accounting.
The Warriors won a championship and 73 games before Durant arrived. They went 67-15 and won the title in his first season, then reached three consecutive Finals and won two championships with Durant earning both Finals MVP awards.
If “on paper” means judging the players who actually shared the court—not adding every accolade they earned across their lifetimes—the Warriors were clearly superior.
So why did Durant reach for Brooklyn first?
Is it because the Nets were his project? Durant and Irving chose Brooklyn together, then helped bring in Harden. That roster reflected Durant’s vision of a championship contender.
The Warriors were already Stephen Curry’s team and an established champion. Durant became their best Finals performer, but Curry remained the franchise’s face and emotional center. Ranking Brooklyn first elevates the team Durant constructed while diminishing the ready-made juggernaut critics say he needed.
Durant only reversed himself after remembering DeMarcus Cousins was on the 2018-19 Warriors.
“With Cousins at the five, that’s probably the best team that I’ve been a part of,” he conceded, moving Brooklyn to second.
If remembering one injury-plagued center changes the answer, the initial argument was never sturdy.
Brooklyn was the greatest collection that Durant ever helped assemble. Golden State was the greatest team.
His first answer revealed which legacy he remains more interested in defending.
