NEW YORK — Kevin Durant says Nets vs. 76ers isn’t a rivalry — even though his former co-star James Harden forced a trade from Brooklyn to Philly less than a month ago.
Even though Ben Simmons, too, forced a trade from Philly to Brooklyn, refusing to take part in training camp or play in a game for the Sixers this season after his teammates and head coach threw him under the bus following their playoff loss to the Hawks last year.
Even though the Sixers reportedly aren’t planning a video tribute for Simmons despite his role in lifting the franchise from the bottom of the conference in his first four seasons.
Even though Doc Rivers traded his own son-in-law as part of the deal.
Even though both teams are now led by precisely two superstars.
Even though Durant and Joel Embiid have a history of trolling each other on the basketball court.
Even though the Nets and Sixers are already rivals, both geographically and divisionally, and thus will play four regular-season games every year; and even though both share a common goal: winning an NBA championship, which means the road to the trophy has a decent likelihood of going through either Brooklyn or Philly.
No. This can’t be a rivalry. That stuff is for the fans. That stuff is for the media. It can’t possibly be for the players. At least not this soon. That’s Durant’s mindset. Or at least what he says publicly, which we know can be the opposite of what is truly felt privately. After all, Steve Nash declared just hours before the Nets traded Harden that Harden wasn’t going anywhere, his third time echoing such a sentiment.
Ahead of one of the most anticipated games of the NBA season — Thursday’s matchup between the Nets and 76ers at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center — Durant said this particular matchup can’t be a true rivalry until it stands the test of time. The game comes exactly a month to the day after the Feb. 10 blockbuster deal that altered the mid-season fates of two division rivals.
“If we play like three, four years in the playoffs against each other, yeah,” Durant said after Kyrie Irving’s 50-point masterclass against the Hornets on Tuesday. “Until we do that, I don’t think playing a team one time in the playoffs is a rivalry. Not even two. I’d say three or four times makes you a rivalry, and the players got to stay on the same teams.”
Here’s a reminder: Time is a man-made construct. As great a player as Durant is, he doesn’t get to define it.
Under Durant’s criteria, after all, it couldn’t have possibly been an instant rivalry when he left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the same Golden State Warriors team that came back from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate him in the Western Conference finals. Thunder fans holding “cupcake” signs surely felt otherwise, as did his former co-star, Russell Westbrook.
Just like it couldn’t have been an instant rivalry when LeBron James announced his “Decision” to leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2010. Those fans didn’t need three or four years to start burning James’ jersey in the middle of the streets.
In fact, under Durant’s criteria, the only true rivalry in recent memory would be LeBron’s Cavaliers vs. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, because they met in four consecutive NBA Finals. In fact, Durant couldn’t possibly have been part of that rivalry — even if he hit dagger shots over James in two consecutive Finals and won Finals MVP in back-to-back years — because, wait, two years isn’t enough to make it a rivalry by his own standards. Three or four playoff meetings on the same team are the criteria.
If this isn’t an instant rivalry, why isn’t Nash in a hurry to talk to his former point guard? A reporter in Charlotte asked the Nets coach if he’s going to speak to Harden when he sees him on Thursday.
“I don’t know that I’ll see him,” Nash said. “I never really get a chance to talk to opposing players.”
Any way you slice it, Nets vs. 76ers will be a rivalry so long as Harden and Embiid lead the Sixers, so long as Durant and Irving lead the Nets, so long as both remain steadfast in their pursuit of a championship. Both Brooklyn and Philly have championship windows that are wide-open this season and project to remain open as long as each of their stars remain in town.
Until that changes, this is an immediate rivalry. Even though Durant is too cool to admit it.
“It makes for good stories. It makes for good narratives. It makes for good build-up for our league,” said Irving. “It’s never too personal, but we understand that as competitors, we want to win this game, and going in there with a resolve, with a focus and just ready for whatever.”
