Many NBA fans hope that Thursday night's matchup between the Nets and 76ers will be an entertaining first chapter of a fierce rivalry.
The ingredients for one are there: the two teams relatively close in proximity, occupying the same conference, both boasting superstar power, and each team holding a player that used to play for the other before known unhappiness led to a trade.
Ben Simmons now in Brooklyn? James Harden now in Philly? Joel Embiid and Harden going up against Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving? The upcoming battle between the two teams could be the start of something, but Durant says it has a lot more chapters to write before he would even consider it as a rivalry.
"If we played like three or four years in the playoffs against each other, yeah," Durant said Tuesday night. "Until we do that, I don't even think playing a team once in the playoffs is a rivalry. Even two, I want to say three or four times…and the players have to stay on the same team. There's not a lot of continuity when it comes to personnel and coaching staffs in this league for there to be that type of rivalry."
So, based on Durant's criteria, the Bulls and Knicks, as well as the Knicks and Heat, were considered rivals in the 1990s, and the Bulls and Pistons before that. The Cavaliers and Warriors also had a rivalry brewing with their multiple NBA Finals matchups, but the Sixers and Nets still have the geographic and personnel angles, which has led to plenty of hype for Thursday's game. Durant hopes spectators enjoy it, but is firm in his belief that the two teams don't have anything near what would constitute a true NBA rivalry.
"This is entertainment," Durant said. "A lot of fans and media people want to look at it that way. Then have a good time, enjoy yourself watching us play."
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