Brown praises Harden.
Denver Nuggets’ Bruce Brown appeared on The LeBatard Show on Saturday (26) to reflect on his time with the Brooklyn Nets.
Brown, who was traded from Detroit to Brooklyn ahead of the 2020-2021 season, was an Altoran-like player who bounced between the starting lineup and the bench. After two years in Brooklyn, he moved to Denver this season, where he averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists.안전놀이터
During Brown’s time with the Nets, Brooklyn was a team that fans loved to watch. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden combined to form the Big Three. They were seen as strong championship favourites. Brown played as a key role player for Brooklyn, providing support behind the big three.
However, the results didn’t come as expected.
After falling in the second round in the first year of the Big Three, Brooklyn had its worst season in 2021-2022, hampered by a number of setbacks, including Kyrie Irving’s unvaccinated issue. A distraught Harden requested a trade and was shipped to Philadelphia, where he received Ben Simmons, and Brooklyn was swept by Boston in the first round.
Rumours continued to follow Harden’s departure from Brooklyn, which didn’t help the atmosphere in the locker room, with stories suggesting that he was at odds with not only Irving, but also Durant and the head coach.
In the weeks leading up to his departure from Brooklyn, reports surfaced that Harden had virtually cut off communication with his teammates. Brooklyn players have also been known to make nuanced comments about Harden in interviews. His departure from Houston was no less tumultuous, drawing criticism from teammate DeMarcus Cousins and others.
However, Brown, who was in the same room with Harden, offered a slightly different take on the story. Brown says the Brooklyn locker room has become quieter since Harden’s departure and calls him one of the best teammates he’s ever had.
“It was definitely more fun when James Harden was on the team,” Brown said. He did a lot of events for us, and when he left, the locker room got a little quieter. No one was doing a lot of things together as teammates. Harden was a great teammate on and off the court. Definitely one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”
“There was a gap when he left. We only had a few players on the team that fit together, and we struggled on the court. Our offence was straightforward and based on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving one-on-one. And as we saw in Game 1 against Boston, there was just too much pressure and too much on them.”
With Harden gone, Brooklyn couldn’t take any of the pressure off Durant and Irving and were swept by Boston. Both Durant and Irving were traded the following season, leaving Brooklyn with one of the worst superteams in NBA history.