Kevin Durant has had a lot of time to watch his Brooklyn Nets teammates battle through adversity in 2019-20. Between Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert’s injuries and the team’s communication issues early on, then Kenny Atkinson’s departure from the franchise — never mind the NBA’s hiatus — Nets players have dealt with a lot this year.
But through that adversity, Durant has learned quite a bit about his new teammates. Some have caught his attention with the way they’ve gone about their business, one of which is LeVert, who’s now Brooklyn’s top gun down in the Disney bubble as Nets make their push toward the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
While on Elite Media Group’s RNC Radio, Durant said LeVert is one of the members of the Nets that’s surprised him the most:
He is definitely better than I thought. He’s different. He can score that thing. He can pass it. He’s quick. His thing is about being efficient, and I think that’s what you’re seeing. The shots he’s taking now, it’s like all of his lane. Not a lot of threes, a lot in the mid-range, getting to the cup. I think his IQ is what surprised me the most.
Durant singled out another one of his Nets teammates: Chris Chiozza. The two-way guard has more than proven himself to Durant.
He’s surprised me a lot. We started playing 3-on-3 once I started getting back into shape a little bit, before the pandemic hit. Then he started getting more minutes in the games and then [was] knocking down threes, just playing with pace. He’s just looked good. He looked like he belonged out there. … He really showed me that he can play in this league.