Photo: Brad Penner/USA Today Sports
LeBron James shows no signs of letting up despite being 36 years old. He averages 34.6 minutes a game, and he averaged 38.4 minutes in February. He never takes games off. He is a throwback in a league that features players taking games off for maintenance reasons.
While watching him get 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in the Lakers’ 122-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets Sunday night, a scroll on the ESPN telecast indicated that Kevin Durant will miss two games in the Nets’ five-game West Coast road trip due to a mild hamstring strain.
Durant will play 19 out of 30 games by the time he comes back to play James and the Lakers on Thursday. This struck me as strange that he would come back to play two games later. He must be okay enough that it’s not serious.
I get the Nets plan. They want to take it slowly with Durant after he came off an Achilles injury two years ago in the NBA Finals. It’s about winning in the postseason, not winning regular-season games. But at what cost? Of making him look bad?
If the Nets are paying Durant in the regular season, he should be playing games in the regular season. Sitting it out makes him look like a wimp, especially since he wants to be compared to James or be in his ilk.
The onus should be on Durant to tell the Nets that he wants to play. Yes, they should make it a point to play him rather than him telling them he wants to play. But the Nets star calls the shots. He can play if he wants to. The Lakers would like to rest James often, but he wants to keep playing being the competitor he is. He also has integrity, which is something I can’t say about Durant.
If Durant wants to be taken seriously as one of the greats that ever played in the NBA, he needs to play through the pain if he really is hurt. He has to stop worrying about if he gets hurt or not if this is really his thought process. He needs to take charge here.
The Nets appeared to care less about trying to make sure James Harden and Kyrie Irving find cohesion with Durant. They showed no regard for chemistry by having those three work out the kinks before the playoffs. They figure it will work out just because they will be on the court and their accomplishments speak for themselves. This is a franchise that decided to put three iso players who want the ball in their championship pursuit.
So far, the Nets bucked conventional wisdom. They are winning, and Harden managed to play well with Irving and Durant. Now it’s just been seven games. It’s hard to say anything on small sample size. These guys need to play together and learn how to handle losing when the time arrives, which is why benching Durant does the team a disservice.
It’s bad enough the Nets play when they want to as in they play at a high level only against elite teams and play to the level of an inferior team when they play the inferior teams. Now, they play guys whenever they feel like it. It just seems the Nets are running stars whenever it seems right rather than play through the gamut of the regular season.
The Nets know they could get away with it since fans are prohibited from going to games as a COVID-19 caution. But next week, fans make their return to New York sporting venues. This means the Nets need to play their stars since fans are footing the bill to go to the games. They deserve to see the team’s best players together.
Maybe some fans disregard that, but they shouldn’t. I know if I am paying $50 or more for a game, I want to get full value from my ticket by seeing Harden, Irving and Durant play.
By not playing Durant, Irving and Harden can feel compelled to not play if they don’t want to. That sets a bad precedent right there.
Just because most NBA teams do it nowadays does not mean the Nets should do it.
If anything, the Nets should be like the Lakers and set an example to play stars every game for the sake of integrity.
