This NBA season has certainly been a strange one so far. While teams like the Trail Blazers and Jazz continue their impressively hot starts, many of the more established teams are struggling to meet expectations.
In Brooklyn, the Nets have become one of those teams after starting the season 1-3. While both KD and Kyrie have been putting up big numbers, wins have been in short supply so far. Now, Durant’s plus-minus stat is the lowest it has ever been at -58 on the season.
Isiah Thomas Calls Out Kevin Durant After 1-3 Start
Isiah Thomas is not one to mince words. The Hall of Famer has never been bashful about saying exactly what’s on his mind. This situation with Durant is no different.
Thomas recently called Durant out for his play, as he hasn’t been impacting the Nets like in years past.
“The thing I’m noticing right away with Durant is that he used to get 30 and that meant he dominated the game,” said Isiah Thomas. “Now his 30 is just 30. Normally, when he got 30, it was like okay the game is over and his team won. Now, it’s a 30 where you still asking what happened.”
"He used to get 30 and that meant he dominated the game. Now his 30 is just 30." @IsiahThomas speaks on the impact of Kevin Durant's plus-minus this season#CenterCourt | @madebygoogle https://t.co/n0QSz9gSum
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 27, 2022
Durant has always been good at putting up big numbers. With his size and skill set, it would be pretty hard not to. And while Durant definitely makes some impact on the game, Thomas and others have noticed that it’s not nearly as much as it used to be.
The Brooklyn Nets have had a worrying start to the season. In a year where the future of the franchise hangs in balance, the Nets have opened it in a very underwhelming fashion. While the stars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have been putting in strong offensive performances, something about the roster together is not clicking for the Nets.
The Nets lineup with Kyrie, KD, Ben Simmons, Royce O’Neale, and Nicolas Claxton ranks as the worst lineup in all of basketball in net rating. Offensively, the quintet clocks in at 95.9 rating, which is decidedly below average with the offense carried by Irving and KD. Defensively, the team is the worst in the league and this lineup is primarily responsible, with a defensive rating of 126.3, putting the team’s overall rating at -30.4.
At this point, the Nets are probably closer to being a play-in team than a true title contender. Despite all the talent they have on paper, the chemistry between these guys has been completely destroyed and the rough play of Ben Simmons only complicates matters further.
This season, it will be up to Kevin Durant and the rest of the team to prove everyone wrong.
