After a rough start to the season, the Brooklyn Nets have improved their level even with the absence of Kyrie Irving. The Eastern Conference powerhouse still has Kevin Durant and James Harden to do the job and lead them to the NBA Finals next year.
Moreover, they’ve received unexpected help from players who didn’t carry big expectations at the beginning. Cameron Thomas recently made headlines when he dropped 46 points on the Raptors 905 to give the Long Island Nets a 114-110 win.
After that incredible performance, Thomas got the call from the big team, where he’s yet to have a 40+ point game, but it’s already making noise with his teammates. He’s very confident in himself, even going against the best player on his team, and probably the league.
After the Brooklyn Nets took care of the Cleveland Cavaliers, 117-112, to climb to the top spot of the Eastern Conference standings on Monday night, Thomas revealed some details of his relationship with Kevin Durant, mocking the 2x NBA champion, claiming he’s a better scorer than KD was at 20.
Via Rookie Wire:
“Me and K.D. just be trash-talking about our scoring abilities because I say I’m a better scorer at my age than he was and he doesn’t believe that. He never wants to play me 1-on-1. We play 1-on-1 in shootarounds all of the time, post-ups — I beat him. Don’t tell him that. James just tries to trash-talk me. We are always going back and forth, friendly stuff. I love those dudes, great dudes.”
Cam Thomas and Kevin Durant trash talk about their scoring abilities and Cam claims he's a better scorer than KD at the age of 20 than KD was
"He never wants to play me one-on-one. We play one-on-one in shootaround all the time, post-ups, I beat him. Don't tell him that" 😂 pic.twitter.com/gxIZEgsyiV
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 23, 2021
Even though he asked reporters to not tell anything to Durant, they did and KD had something to say about it, too, having a little fun with the former LSU player.
“He was a little 4-for-7 (tonight) so you know he was feeling himself. Y’all were excited to talk to him. I’m sure his boys were hitting him up on Twitter and sending him texts so he was feeling himself so he was going to come in here and fabricate.”
Kevin Durant heard what Cam Thomas said earlier about beating him in their 1-on-1 matchups at shootaround and didn't hold back 😂
*looks at stat sheet* "Little 4-for-7, you know he feeling himself when he come in…he gonna come in here and fabricate" pic.twitter.com/d6wLJKl8Sy
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 23, 2021
Still, Durant praised his young teammate and the spark he brings to the court, which can be really helpful for this team moving forward.
“He gave us the boost we needed as somebody that can score, dribble off the catch like that. A young team like this, they are going to send all of their resources at James and myself so they are playing super physical and super tight to me. They are going to bring over some help so guys are open and they left him open. I guess he wasn’t on the scouting report but they left him open and he made plays.”
The Nets found a solid scorer in Thomas. Even though he’s been switching between the NBA and G League, the 20-year-old has a bright future ahead and can provide a lot of things for Steve Nash’s squad.
Imagine how confident you have to be to trash talk Kevin Durant, one of the best scorers in NBA history and arguably the best player in the world right now. Well, that’s Cam Thomas.
