Colin Cowherd believes Kevin Durant's self-assessment is misguided.
Although Durant said Saturday night after the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of the teams' first-round NBA playoff series that he's "thinking too much," Cowherd wonders whether the opposite actually is true of KD given the 12-time All-Star's current situation.
After all, Durant walked away from a great environment with the Golden State Warriors to join Brooklyn, where the Nets have failed to make good on their championship aspirations.
"One of the things Kevin Durant said was, 'I'm thinking too much.' No, no, no, timeout. You didn't think enough," Cowherd said Monday on FS1. "Kevin, you're not down 3-0 because you're thinking too much. You're down 3-0 because you didn't give it enough thought. You left Steve Kerr for Steve Nash. Steve Nash had never been an assistant coach. Steve Kerr's a championship-winning coach. He was a great broadcaster, a very good GM. That's a terrible decision. You left Steph Curry -- the most selfless superstar maybe in any sport ever, dude's coming off the bench now against Denver to give Jordan Poole more minutes -- for Kyrie Irving. You're not thinking too much. You didn't think enough."
The Celtics pushed the Nets to the brink of elimination with their 109-103 victory in Game 3. Boston has neutralized Durant in the series, totally flustering the Nets star with a sensational defensive effort, and there now are real questions as to whether Brooklyn ever will win it all with Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons (acquired in a midseason blockbuster that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers) steering the ship. It's very similar to Durant's days with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Kevin Durant is a remarkable player, and he is now trapped," Cowherd said Monday. "First of all, he is stuck with Ben Simmons. You can't trade that guy now. In fact, there's a story this morning, the Brooklyn Nets organization made sure (NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski) had this story, 'We're exasperated with Ben Simmons.' Exasperated? The contract just started. He hasn't played yet and you're exasperated. And Kyrie Irving, they're trapped, because Kyrie's going to opt out and they're either going to have to trade him -- what I would do -- or give him a max extension: $50 million a year for five years. I can't do that with Kyrie, I can't."
NBA superstars wield a lot of power nowadays, in many cases able to dictate where they play and/or who they play with. So really, Durant has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament, which, in hindsight, was avoidable if he wasn't adamant about teaming up with Irving.
"What would we do if Patrick Mahomes decided, 'Yeah, I'm going to leave Andy Reid, Brett Veach, that roster, those fans and go to the Jets because I've got a buddy, a slot receiver,' " Cowherd said. "His agent would go, 'No, I'm not going to represent you. I'm not going to sign off on that move.' NFL media would crush him. Fans would roll their eyes at him."
Durant is an excellent player. One of the best in NBA history, in fact. But those collective eye rolls are becoming more pronounced as the Nets struggle to keep pace in the Eastern Conference.
