With Harden and Kyrie injured, Shannon Sharpe questions whether Kevin Durant has it in him to carry the Brooklyn Nets past the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Widely anticipated to be one of the most intriguing and entertaining matchups this year, it seems like the second-round playoff series between the Bucks and the Nets was doomed from the start.
In the very first minute of the series, Nets fans watched in horror as James harden pulled his right hamstring while going for a drive. All this after Harden had already missed a month of the regular season due to the same injury. Unfortunately, it seems like the beard hadn’t recovered fully and is not expected to step on the court for the remainder of this series.
While Harden’s hamstring injury single-handedly dashed all our hopes of witnessing a loaded and healthy Nets squad against the Giannis led Bucks.
Game 4 saw Kyrie Irving limping back to the locker room at the end of the second quarter with a sprained right ankle. According to head coach Steve Nash, the Brooklyn Nets medical staff has declared Kyrie unfit to play in game 5.
Shannon Sharpe talks about Kevin Durant having to face the Bucks without Harden and Kyrie
Undisputed Co-host and certified LeBron James devotee, Shannon Sharpe seems particularly elated at the prospect of KD having to face the Bucks without two of his most vital teammates.
‘It’s gonna be funny, for the very first time in 5 years Kevin Durant is gonna walk on the court and all of a sudden he’s not gonna have 3 of the top 5 players.”
Kevin Durant was at the receiving end of a lot of criticism for joining the Golden State Warriors in 2016, especially for going to a team that had just defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals and were the defending Champions.
The same can be said about his decision to go to the Brooklyn Nets consequently assembling a squad comprising of Kyrie and Harden. Shannon Sharpe believes that while KD is a terrific scorer, he has never been in a position similar to LeBron where he had to take on multiple roles to lead a team to victory.
“He has always had a point guard or someone facilitating the offence for him, be it Kyrie Irving, James Harden be it Russel Westbrook, Draymond Green or Steph Curry.”
This is KD’s opportunity to show he’s the best player on the planet. If KD is what everyone has proclaimed him to be, he will win this series.
For the very first time in 5 years, KD is going to walk on the court and he’s not going to have 3/4 of the top 5 players on his team. https://t.co/gZSEJKKYvf
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) June 14, 2021
While Shannon’s take certainly seems to be influenced by his admiration for LeBron James, there is some truth to it, in that KD hasn’t had to single-handedly carry a team like LeBron had to without Anthony Davis most of this season.
With KD haters now coming out of the woodworks, it will certainly be interesting to see new strategies the Nets will employ in game 5 to emerge victorious in front of a home crowd.
