Taurean Prince recently appeared on the Run Your Race podcast, where he spoke at length about his basketball career. When Prince’s time with the Brooklyn Nets was brought up on the podcast, he recounted how Kyrie Irving once stated they wouldn’t win the championship with him at power forward.
“I played the 4 by the way, in my tenure in Brooklyn,” Prince said. “I had never played the 4 in the league up until that point, you know what I’m saying. (Played there) ‘Cuz (Kevin Durant) wasn’t healthy… I remember Ky saying, ‘Man, ain’t no way we gonna win a championship with (Prince) at the 4.’
“Not to say like I’m trash but like, bro, I’m 6’7″ starting at the four guarding like Serge Ibaka, and come on, man,” Prince continued. “Back hurting this s***.”
Prince had played at the small forward spot for the first three seasons of his career in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and that was undoubtedly his best position. When he was traded to the Nets in 2019, though, he was asked to play at power forward because Kevin Durant was out after rupturing his right Achilles tendon.
Being a team player, Prince agreed, even, though, he knew he would have a rough time matching up against players who were much bigger than him. While the Nets would have appreciated him toughing it out, Irving knew that it wasn’t a recipe for success.
As Prince pointed out, Kyrie wasn’t taking a shot at him. He just didn’t think it was a good idea for the Nets to put him at power forward and I agree with that as well.
At the same time, though, it didn’t matter where Prince played for the Nets that season. With Durant out for the entire 2019-20 campaign, they were not going to win the championship.
Irving himself had to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery in February 2020, and with both stars out, the Nets had no chance of making any noise in the postseason. They finished the campaign as the seventh seed in the East with a 35-37 record and were swept in the first round by the Toronto Raptors.
As for Prince, he finished that season with solid averages of 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. He wasn’t all that efficient, though, shooting just 37.6% from the field and 33.9% from beyond the arc.
With Durant back the following season, Prince lost his starting spot on the Nets and saw his game time go down drastically, from 29.0 MPG in 2019-20 to 18.2 MPG in 2020-21. He wouldn’t be on the team much longer either, as he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 2021, in a three-team deal that sent James Harden to Brooklyn.
With the Nets now boasting a formidable Big 3, I am certain Irving was confident they were going to win multiple championships. Unfortunately, it turned out, they weren’t going to win even one, despite having him, Durant, and Harden.
Injuries and Kyrie’s refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine meant the Nets never came close to winning it all. They were a complete mess behind the scenes and Harden would be the first of the three superstars to leave in 2022. Irving and Durant then headed out in 2023, to bring an end to an era that promised much but failed to deliver anything of note.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
