Ever since the Brooklyn Nets acquired James Harden, the sports world has been fascinated with their holy trinity of NBA stars.
Indeed, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden are so naturally gifted - at scoring, at least - that it's been almost a league rule that sportsbooks rate the Nets among the favorites to win the NBA Finals. And Vegas is feeling it, too, with the Nets the chalk to win the Eastern Conference, and second behind the Lakers to win the NBA Finals.
The Nets were 7-6 when they traded a boatload of players and draft picks to the Rockets for Harden. They are 8-6 since, hardly the early signs of a masterpiece. But you may recall that the hated Miami Heat of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh limped to a 9-8 start before they found their mojo. And for those folks who are fond of NBA stars forming Superfriend basketball teams, there's ample precedent of such groupings working on the hardwood.
But without diving into dull algorithms and points scored and allowed by possession, ask yourself how this grouping compares to the other renowned NBA congregations. When the Celtics started this fad, they cobbled together a fine core of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to play with resident legend Paul Pierce. That team won a title, and perhaps should have won more, based on the different skills each brought to the court, to go with a shared hunger for an NBA title. None of them owned a championship ring, giving them a common past and shared purpose.
In the case of the Miami Heat - AKA the "Heatles" - you had LeBron James in his physical prime doing things that no other human can do. Chris Bosh could clean up the boards, toss some elbows, dive for balls, and do the gritty work that always seems needed to win the NBA Finals. Then there was Dwayne Wade, the lone Heatle with a ring. He brought leadership and was selfless enough to surrender the team to the more gifted and Chosen One.
In Golden State, there was a team that already won an NBA Finals, then won a record 73 games the next year and lost in the Finals. Then they added Durant to a team with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry and became simply unbeatable. Only injury could tear them apart, and it did, and perhaps a desire from Durant to start fresh and shed his image as a frontrunner who couldn't handle losing in OKC.
Yet again, if you look at these superteams, they seem to bring complimentary parts of their game, and a clear selflessness that puts team victory first over the personal vanity of stats. If you watch the Nets, they don't seem like three epic players who are simpatico. Durant feels like the most mature of the three leading men, by far. His move to the Warriors was questioned but he's never tried to skirt the rules or traditions by forcing a trade or a raise or special treatment.
We can't say this about Harden and Irving. Harden made myriad personnel demands in Houston - get Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, etc. - and they bombed. Then last month he guided Houston's hand in trading him to the Nets. Irving was toiling in Cleveland until LeBron miraculously came back home and helped Irving taste some title champagne. But before LeBron, and certainly since he last played with LeBron, Kyrie Irving has been an oddball with one eye on the hardwood, and the other all over the place. It seems he's being pulled in endless directions, with different political causes pulling him apart. So while Harden can be seen as selfish, Irving is one part selfish and ten parts strange, kind of like his leave of absence already this year for no discernable reason.
No doubt Durant went to Oakland to finally feel what it's like to beat LeBron in a seven-game series. But as soon as he rigged a team and got what he wanted, Durant came back east without a loaded lineup waiting for him (unless you consider the talented and tormented Kyrie such a player). Also, unlike some of the more heralded superstar gatherings, two of Brooklyn's Big 3 already have rings, so Harden is the only one who can play with the unique lust for his first.
It's way too early to render judgement on the Nets or their small constellation of stars. And while it's great to hear how nuclear their offense can be - at one point they scored 122 points per 100 possessions - they hemorrhage almost as many points as they score (119 points per 100 possessions ten days ago). They could enter the playoffs holding the record for most explosive offense and most tattered defense at the same time, on the same team. All of which would make the Nets a novelty show, but not a blueprint for success or a team for the archives.
But these Nets have to prove they have not just the talent but also the teamwork, and they have two years to do it, before Harden bounces for free agency. If they succeed, it will justify the splashy moves. If they fail, it will plunge the Nets back to Brooklyn, if not New Jersey, in abject shame. They will be buried in the sports page, well behind the Knicks, somewhere between horse racing and high school wrestling.
Follow Jason Keidel on Twitter: @JasonKeidel
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