Former Auburn football receiver and future NFL draftee Anthony Schwartz was not exactly bullish on the proposition of the Brooklyn Nets’ new star trio of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden.
I love it when worlds collide. In addition to covering Auburn football, basketball, baseball, and all things Tigers for Fly War Eagle, I also cover the NBA for Hardwood Houdini of FanSided’s NBA Network.
So when a Tigers receiver, set to enter the 2021 NFL draft no less, comments on the NBA, I can’t help but be drawn to said comments like a moth to a lantern.
Following the long-awaited James Harden blockbuster that took place Wednesday afternoon, Schwartz took a moment to comment on the new Brooklyn Nets starting five:
Yea if it was 2016 https://t.co/CkNh8hJPvn
— Anthony Schwartz (@TheRealF1ash) January 13, 2021
Schwartz had quite the hot take for the Twitterverse, and his comments may be a bit misguided. While the Irving-Harden-Durant trio was undoubtedly healthier in 2016–Durant tore his Achilles heel in June 2019 and Irving has suffered countless ailments since as well–the late twenties/early-thirties versions of each player are likely the best equipped to have what it takes to win a championship.
Harden has eclipsed the 30 points per game benchmark the past three seasons before this one, and Durant is a two-time NBA champion from his time with the Golden State Warriors.
Where Schwartz may have a point is with Irving, who has taken a severe reputation hit with his behavior the past few seasons since winning his first championship in 2016. Irving slowed the progress of the young Boston Celtics core that has since made it back to the Eastern Conference Finals; they made three of the past four, missing the ECF the one season Irving was in the postseason lineup.
We shall see how the Nets gel together, but if you ask a certain pass-catching future football professional from the Plains, Brooklyn’s stars may have already jumped the shark.